The Trials of Tiny Teens
by Sunny-Donna
Summary: It was supposed to be a normal mission. It was an easy mission! There definitely wasn't supposed to be tiny teens roaming around. What were the League of Shadows thinking! This wasn't really their style. Batman stared at the sleeping children, trying hard to figure out the safest way to deal with the situation. He really hated magic. K for now, may go up to T.
1. The First Trial

**Disclaimer: No owny young-justicy. If I did, well, it certainly wouldn't be cancelled. **

**So I love- love- LOVE- fics with children. And also, I love deaging characters. But most of all, like adorable things. But surprisingly, I find it harder and harder to find a really good fic of deaged kids. Maybe it's because there are so many, but I had no intention to keep digging for needles in haystacks. This is my new baby. I love it! I'll be updating this quicker, because, well, I'm writing it quicker. While the creative juice is flowing and whatnot.**

**The First Trial**

It had been a fairly normal mission. It would have been a fairly easy mission too. Nothing in the reports and their sightings had suggested anything of this size. When Batman had handed the mission over, it had been in the utmost certainty that nothing could go wrong. Just stop a bank heist for crying out loud! This was not the sort of catastrophe he had expected to occur. The minute their signal went dead, he had Red Tornado and Canary going after them. Something had felt off to him. The two had managed to capture the original robbers, put out fires, and find the- the children- in five minutes flat.

That's when he knew something had gone terribly wrong. He couldn't quite explain why the feeling existed. But it was there, and he was sure of it. He hadn't quite fathomed at the time when Dinah called in an emergency meeting of the Justice League the degree of how wrong this was. He had been a bit angry Dinah hadn't briefed him with a report before hand, but it hadn't made any sense to him at the time. Now- Now it did. Walking into the meeting, and seeing this on the screen, not something he'd been prepared for. He hadn't even walked to his seat like the others. Instead, he moved in front of the screen, drinking in the horror that this was.

"Oh Hera!" came the voice of Wonder Woman, as she saw what Batman was seeing on the monitor. He'd been so shocked with what occurred that he had completely ignored paying attention to anything else. His mind had been focused on what was before him.

Batman turned to see the group walking in now. Behind Wonder Woman came Barry, who zipped past her and came beside Batman, his jaw dropped as he stared at the screen. Green Arrow was right behind him, his focus concentrated upon the screen. He'd never thought Green Arrow would be knocked speechless. On cue, J'onn floated into the room, his eyes on the screen. He wasn't as shocked, probably prepared from the mental signals, but his quiet concerned expression was enough to understand his worry. Batman turned away, as the Green Lanterns walked in.

"Well, shit," said the first Green Lantern, his jaw dropped slightly.

"How did this happen?" asked John Stewart, from beside Hal Jordan, directing his questions to Dinah, who grimaced.

"Where is she?!" came the booming voice of Zatara as he barged on in. He was furious, and rightfully so, as Captain Marvel came in behind him. The two were the last

Everyone who wasn't a guardian or mentor slid into their chairs. One man was missing. The big blue boy scout. Even Flash was here on time- well, five minutes later than scheduled, but on time for him. Somehow that had become Clark's attitude on everything related to the Team since the boy had joined. He was never there for them. He avoided anything to do with them. And no doubt Black Canary had told the group that this was a Team related issue. Stupid, idiotic boy scout.

"Sorry I'm late," said Clark as he finally walked in, looking less than comfortable to be here. Batman was in no mood to deal with this right now, and turned as he saw Superman catching the monitor's site. His mouth dropped open, and he seemed a little stunned. "Is that-

"Yes," said Batman, his voice seemingly cold and detached. "It is. Black Canary and Tornado were just waiting for_ you_ to brief us."

He had the decency to look ashamed as he slid into the seat. Zatara was still standing, demanding to see his daughter. Batman glared at him, and with a short bark to be quiet, Zatara stood silently. Black Canary turned to Red Tornado, and nodded as she moved to the round table, ready to address the group, her face stern as she walked forward.

"The Team was sent on a mission to stop a major bank heist in Washington, at the Washington Federal. It was their day off, but they were available and nearest to the area. Besides, we suspected the involvement of the League of Shadows. We had reason to suspect due to the presence of Sportsmaster," explained Black Canary, as the second screen flashed an image of the man entering the bank after shooting a cop, "Zatanna was there for the day, part of her gradual and hopeful incorporation to the team. She went along, despite being told to stay back until she had been trained for missions. However, an hour into the mission, and the signal went down. The Team was offline, and news reports claimed aggravation of the situation. Red Tornado and I were dispatched to check it out."

"Upon arriving," continued Red Tornado in his metallic voice, "We found the cause of aggravation. The League of Shadows had departed. The crooks hired were fighting amongst themselves. They had not expected to be betrayed by their leaders. The outbreaks of fires were minimal, and I was able to put it out while Canary rescued the hostages. We had the situation down in five minutes and twenty-two seconds. However, the team was no where in site."

"Red Tornado and I dispersed, searching for signs of the team. There were none, until we made it the backroom where the safes were. Robin's batarang was embedded in the safe. It was the only sign of the team we had. Red Tornado banged down the door, and this was how we found them," finished Black Canary, once again indicating to the monitor. "They were fast asleep. The drug test shows no signs of drugs being used, we suspect it's a magical sleep."

"I'll test it immediately when you take me to my daughter!" demanded Zatara angrily.

"Do they know who they are?" asked Hawkgirl, glancing at the monitor again.

"We do not know," said Red Tornado, "They have been asleep since they were found like this."

"Please tell me they're potty-trained," came Oliver's voice finally, a pleading sort of tone to his voice.

"Shut up Queen," said Batman, feeling a headache come on, as he glanced back at the monitor. This was most definitely not his day.

"They're not babies," said Black Canary, as Hal finally dissolved to laughter. John was sitting silently beside his fellow Corps member, but even he couldn't help but crack a smile beside Hal at Oliver's remark.

"How old do they look to you?" asked Hal, grinning like an idiot over this matter.

"They can't be older than eight at most," said Hawkgirl, "And how do we know they are who they are?"

"We know from the fact that their DNA tests came up a match," said Batman in annoyance, "And before you ask who checked- _I did_."

Everyone went quiet, staring at the monitors. On the screen was visual surveillance of the Young Justice Team. Much younger then they usually were. Small, cherub like children lay fast asleep in cots. The monitors closed in on each child. One screen showed the red-haired, freckle-faced Wally West, arms sprawled outwards, a peaceful smile on his face. Beside his screen was the dark-haired, still masked face of a young Robin, with chubby cheeks and a pillow clenched in his arms. The third screen showed the dark-haired, but older face of Superboy. His hair still had a military look to it, but somehow the chubby cheeks made it sweeter as he lay sleeping on his stomach. Beside him, was the dark-skinned Kaldur'ahm beside her, his blonde hair longer than he had it now, and a relaxed expression on his face. The content blonde-haired child below his screen was Artemis, her blonde hair long and splayed around her face, making her look angelic as she lay still, simply her head lolled slightly to the side. The screen to her left showed the green little alien M'gann, with long red hair, mimicking Artemis's, curled into a fetus position. And finally, the black-haired Zatanna, that flowed around her face as she clung to her blanket.

"Well, what now?" asked Hawk-Girl to the group.

"We take shifts watching them, and Zatara will conduct his tests," said Batman, standing and leaving with the magician. Maybe he'd slip an aspirin while in the med-Bay.


	2. The Second Trial

**Disclaimer: No owny young-justicy. If I did, well, it certainly wouldn't be cancelled.**

**The Second Trial**

The sterile hospital room was crowded with the presence of the mentors, hovering around the seven beds. Each had white sheets and sterile white blankets. The children were all dressed in similar, matching white hospital gowns. The machines that had been monitoring their vitals had been removed from the room. In fact, besides the beds, there was nothing in the hospital room. The floors and walls were a sterile white. Even the clock in the room was removed off of the wall. Each wall had a superhero beside it, Clark was stationed by the left wall, unfortunately close to Superboy and Robin, both sleeping across from each other. By the door stood Oliver, mostly because it was closest to his partner. Batman was by Robin. Flash by the left wall and by Kid Flash. Likewise, the other mentors were at the foot of the bed in the middle off the room by their partners, except for Zatara and Canary, who shuffled between beds.

Clark glanced over at the sleeping children. Zatara had been murmuring spells over each one. He wasn't really paying close enough attention to them. Rather, he was staring at the tiny faces of the children. Especially the black-haired, midget version of himself. As a sixteen year old kid, the boy was easy to avoid. He was easy not to think about. It was easy not to worry too much. As a six year old kid, the boy was far too child-like to not think about. Especially since Batman had requested he be on hand in case Superboy had no memories of being released from Cadmus. Weapon. Child. Child-Weapon. He turned to Zatara, who cleared his throat to speak, trying to ignore the uncomfortableness he was feeling.

"There are a variety of spells, the most basic being a sleeping spell," said Zatara to the group. "I also detected a spell that keeps telepaths such as J'onn at bay, and a spell to repress their memories. They most likely have no memories of the last five years, possibly longer. That is easily rectifiable again. However, the magic that made them children is beyond anything I have worked with before."

"Let's deal with the memory issue first," said Black Canary, "Then we can work with getting them to normal."

"I must warn you however," said Zatara sternly, "If I do tamper with their memories, the onslaught of five years of memories will be much for their bodies. Most likely, they will only remember the most important facts. Getting any information out of them will be difficult. Not to mention they will be struggling themselves with the new information."

"We can't leave them like this," came the surprising reply from J'onn.

"What exactly are the side effects?" asked Batman, startling everyone. He had become a shadow by Robin's bed.

"They'll faint immediately after the memories begin to play in," said Zatara, "They'll be in a state of shock. Most likely the biggest events will play out first, and they'll remember that. The smaller events, not so much. Combined with whatever sorcery made them children, it will be like dealing with children, each traumatized, each very confused, and unable to control their emotions."

"And the other options?" asked the Flash, as stood over Kid Flash.

"Leave them as they are," said Zatara.

"Speaking as a guardian, which choice will you make for your daughter?" asked Flash.

"I want the spells off," said Zatara firmly.

"Then so be it," said the Batman, and the conversation was over without any other complaints. It still amazed Clark how the Batman could do that.

"Very well, I will begin with my own daughter," said Zatara to the group of worried mentors, "The spells will require an amount of trust as well, to return their memories. For some, it may need to be established."

He turned to Zatara, who murmured softly over Zatanna. The child's eyes suddenly snapped open, wide and blue. She sat up, and began to wail loudly, causing Clark to wince. She was crying as Zatara lifted her into his arms, hugging her close. She sniffled, and slowly calmed, clinging to her father as best as a child can. When she had calmed down, she looked around, most definitely lost. Her mouth was open to a little 'o' as she stared at the assembled group, and then her father.

"Where am I daddy?" she asked, fearfully gripping his neck as he held her, rubbing her back.

"Safe, my child," he said warmly, as she settled down and stared at the group, looking amazed and excited. "But I need to conduct some spells on you."

She turned her attention back to him, though she seemed less amazed and more demanding. Clark had noticed how her eye wandered to Black Canary, and seemed particularly impressed at his presence. However, Zatanna was staring at her father solemnly, and he explained that she needed the spells to grow big and strong.

"Okay," said Zatanna, open and trusting. She didn't even question her father. Zatara beamed at his daughter, and set her down on the bed. She glanced at all the strangers, before turning back to her father and softly asking, "Why are they here?"

"They're just here to watch," said Zatara, but the little girl frowned and asked louder, "Why?"

"Well, they have their own children here for magical treatment," said Zatara, and Clark noted the man's expression. This was obviously a conversation that he'd gone through many times before.

"Oh," said Zatanna, now glancing to the beds. She stared at her dad, and then frowned a bit.

"You can talk to all the superheroes once I've cast my spells, okay?" said Zatara, and the child looked like she was about to argue, before Giovanni gave her a stern look, and she relented to a nod.

"_Seiromem eht nruter_!" he said, placing both hands on Zatara's head. The girl gasped, and seemed to freeze. Her entire body began to sway back and forth, her eyes rolled back in her head, before she passed out. Zatara caught her before she banged her head, and he set her to lie down. He tucked her in with a gentle, loving expression, one that Clark had never seen before.

"You didn't tell us they'd pass out!" said Green Arrow in alarm, and indeed, it was alarming to have witnessed such a thing, but Clark remained silent.

"She's fine," said Zatara, his worry still on his face, "And they're simply dreaming, seeing their memories. It will take a few hours, but they shall soon remember everything. Now, who next?"

Immediately a babble broke out, everyone claiming their child first. Slowly, everyone calmed down, seeing no resolution. It helped that Canary had let out a screech and they were all wincing, as she glared at them. Even Batman had stepped forward, hoping to awake Robin first. She glared at all of them, and then sighed.

"We should do it in order of easiest to hardest in terms of fight and trust," said Black Canary sternly, "So the next logical answer is Kid Flash or Robin. Besides, we also need to know if Kid Flash retained his powers or not."

"Then Robin first," said Batman sternly, before anyone could argue.

Zatara stood and moved to the bed for the little boy. This time, Clark took note that he was casting two spells. It was hard to tell, because it happened so quickly. So that's why he didn't have to drop the mental shields on Zatanna while she was awake. Once again the child woke, who opened his eyes with a snap like Zatanna, but the boy paused, yawned, and rubbed his eyes as he sat him. That's when he realized he had the mask covering his face, and frowned as he began to remove it. Batman had moved over in a second, but he paused, realizing there wasn't anyone in this room who didn't know his and Dick's identity. Sighing, the boy removed his mask, and his blue eyes gazed in astonishment at the crowd.

When his eyes landed on Clark, the man swore that they grew four times bigger, and he was bouncing up excitedly, waving his hand at the man and going, "Supa'man! It's Supa'man!"

Clark could feel the glare Bruce gave him, but it was obvious Robin's memories were blocked. He approached the young boy, and smiled, as the boy stared at him in wonder. He bent down, as Zatara hovered nearby, waiting for Superman to establish the boy's trust. The boy gaped open-mouthed at Superman, his face going bright red as he did. His blue eyes seemed so wide and trusting.

"Hello Dick," he said quietly, a warm smile on his face.

"Supa'man knows my name!" he said in awe, throwing the blanket off now as he moved closer. The boy suddenly frowned, as he stared at his eyes and costume, shrunk down with him. "Why am I small? And why am I wearing this?"

"That's why you're here Dick," said Superman, as he hoped to establish the trust required for the spell to be successful, otherwise Batman would kill him.

"Cause I'm little?" asked Dick curiously, staring at Superman in awe.

"Exactly, this man here," he said, pointing to Zatara who put on a warm smile, "He wants to help you. So do I, actually."

"Who's that? He looks like Jack- but younger, and he wears more black! Do you know Jack Haly? Course you do- You're Supa'man! He owns the circus I live at!" said Dick excitedly, wide awake now as he stared at his hero. Clark couldn't help the smile. Apparently Dick had always been a talker.

"Yes, yes I do," said Superman, "Now, why don't we make you big again, and then I can take you for a flight, okay Dick?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically, and turned to the magician. He was practically jumping, and Clark could see Bruce's fist clench. He sighed, trying not to feel guilty that the kid hadn't even noticed anyone beyond him. He suddenly wondered what he would feel about Superboy. He ignored the thought as soon as it occurred. Now was not the place or time.

Dick was relatively calm as Zatara cast the spell, but when the boy began to fall, nobody moved quicker than Batman to catch him. The Bat glared at them all, daring them to make a comment, but Superman simply backed away. He had done his part. He frowned as he watched Dick sleep. He'd never really realized how truly innocent or fragile these kids had been. So trusting and unquestioning of the matter.

"Are they always that trusting?" asked Superman, to no one in particular.

"Kids," said Green Arrow from behind him, as though it was an explanation. Clark supposed he'd just have to accept it.

"Kid Flash now?" asked Flash, surprisingly impatient for Barry Allen. Zatara nodded, and they all glanced at the kid. This would be the moment of truth. Was he still a speedster or not? And did he have the same control he did as a teen?

They watched with bated breaths as Zatara awoke the boy. Clark watched as Barry's body tensed. The kid rolled over, clearly awake, but not wanting to get out of bed. His eyes flickered open, and he caught sight of Zatara. He moved so quickly that Clark didn't realize what happened until the five-year-old was up, sitting upright and staring at them all. He heard Oliver muttering that he wasn't going to play babysitter to that kid.

"WhereamI? Whoareyou? Where'smom?" demanded the kid, but his mouth was moving quicker than normal speeds, by no means as fast as Barry could, but fast enough that it took a minute to process.

"Kid," said Flash, touching his shoulder. The boy jumped, and stared for the first time at the Flash. His eyes blinked. And then again. And then he was sitting with his jaw agape, staring at the man with a crazed sort of wonder.

"You're the Flash!" said Wally enthusiastically, he was waving his hands so fast and furiously at Barry, that they had become blurs. That's when the kid realized what he was doing.

"I'm the Flash, and you're Wally," said Barry, gently holding Wally's arms, as the kid turned bright red.

"You- You know who I am?!" said Wally, in an amazed whisper, as his hands moved quickly to clap over his mouth. That's when Wally seemed to realize what he'd done. He moved his hands in front of his face, and then faster, and faster, until he was back to being a blur. "I'm the Flash too!"

"Er, yes you are Wally," said Flash.

"Wicked!" said Wally, grinning like a devil, before frowning at then staring at Barry, "How'd that happen?"

Barry caught his arms again, as Wally pouted. Apparently control was going to be an issue for Wally. They watched the kid's grin get wider and wider. He was apparently far too excited to have any questions for them. Instead he started to babble in the speedster speech about how cool this was. Flash was grinning, and he finally stopped the boy when Batman came up beside Zatara and glared at him.

"Wally," said Flash, bending to be eye-level with the kid, "I know this is all really exciting, but to make sure that you're powers don't really bother you, we need the nice magician over there to help you out."

It was a blatant lie. Something the Man of Steel didn't do. He shuffled uncomfortably, but he could see Wally nodding enthusiastically. He was once again amazed as the kid didn't question his smallness. Much like Zatanna, for a nine-year old mentality, he wasn't too concerned about being in a body that was small. The presence of the Fastest Man Alive was more than enough to distract him. He was still babbling when Zatara took a hold of his head. Within a minute, the kid was snoring peacefully, the Flash laying the kid down to rest.

"Who's next?" they asked Black Canary, and she sighed, turning to Aquaman and asking, "Will Aqualad be okay with this, or do you suspect it will not work out?"

"I was not involved with his life at such a tender age," said the King, "But he grew up in Atlantis, and knows me as his King. I presume my presence will help smooth the matter over."

"Then Aqualad is next," said Black Canary, nodding to the magician.

Zatara moved to the boy, who really looked far too innocent to one day become leader of a team of teenage heros. He was sleeping so peacefully, as Black Canary and Aquaman made their way over to him. Aquaman stood, arms crossed as he watched the small child being awoken by the wizard. Surprisingly, Aqualad was rather calm as he awoke. His eyes grew wide as he looked around, silently appraising them all as he sat up. Superman could see Canary's instinctive move to reach over and help, but she stayed put, clenching her fists. He wondered how close she was to the children, as a trainer to them.

"My- My King," said Aqualad, his eyes wide as he sat up straighter, finally realizing the presence of the man.

"Calm yourself, Kaldur'ahm," said the man, and the boy did so, apparently thrown off completely. "This is the Justice League, the people whom I work with on the surface world. You are here because we believe that you require some medical attention."

The boy said nothing, faultlessly polite as he nodded, his eyes wide. Clark wondered why they hadn't woken him first. Instead, the boy just stared wide-eyed at his King, thrown completely off. Black Canary took over for the King at this point, smiling gently to the lad. He stared at her, as she moved towards him.

"Kaldur'ahm," she said politely, "My name is Black Canary. I'm here to help you. But we need you to put your trust in us, can you do that?"

The boy nodded, but hesitantly asked, "Where is my mother?"

Black Canary was still smiling as she answered, "You'll get to see her when this is over."

The boy nodded, and Zatara got to work. He flinched, but Black Canary was quick, and she held the boy's hand. He seemed to relax, apparently warming up to the woman as Zatara muttered the spell. He was asleep in moments, gently being tucked into the blankets by Black Canary. Aquaman gave the boy a worried look, but stepped back to the walls of the room, rather than hovering like Batman and the Flash.

"M'Gann," said Black Canary at once.

The group made their way to the alien-child, sleeping peacefully. As soon as Zatara broke the telepathic link, Superman could sense J'onn was at work. The child woke up, but she didn't get up like the others. Instead she sleepily looked around, and then at J'onn. She didn't seem to notice what was going on, and nor did Superman quite know what the telepath was doing. But the alien-child nodded, and allowed him to lift her. Well, more like requested as her arms came up, begging to be held. She said nothing as Zatarra took hold of her head, her eyes linked to J'onn. The procedure was over within five minutes. And he thought Aqualad was simple.

"What did you do?" asked Green Arrow, sounding amazed, "Can you do that to Artemis?"

"I established a telepathic connections. On Mars, small children prefer telepathic communication to verbal speech. I assumed she'd be most uncomfortable without the presence of home in her head, since she would assume she was on Mars. I was correct," explained J'onn.

"Will she-

"She's fine Canary. It was quite simple assuaging her worries," explained J'onn, "And she knows of who I am."

"Well, let's move on then," said Batman, his voice cutting the air.

"Artemis or Superboy?" asked Black Canary to the group. Superman didn't say a word as Green Arrow said Artemis. He wondered how old Superboy would think he was when he awoke. Five years of memories. Was the clone even five years old? Bruce had said his growth had been accelerated, and it had happened in a matter of weeks. But how long had he been with Cadmus?

"Artemis," said Batman, voicing Superman's concern as he added, "We don't know what to expect with Superboy."

That truth his Superman like a ton of bricks as it was voiced. He flinched, and he could practically feel Bats glares. But it was ignored as Zatara was already by the girl's bedside. Oliver and Dinah hovered over her, like concerned parents. The two waiting nervously as Zatara murmured the spells to awake her. Superman hoped it took a while. He didn't want to be nudged in to the parental zone. Or pushed in.

As the child awoke, Green Arrow took in a breath, and stepped back. Black Canary stood absolutely still. The young girl was stirring, and she shifted before blinking. She stared at all of them, open-mouthed, before she started to cry. Whatever reaction anyone had expected, it wasn't tears. Her bawls grew louder and louder, and Black Canary moved and hugged the girl, who flinched and moved away.

"Artemis- Artemis sweetie, do you know who I am?" asked Black Canary, trying to calm the child down.

"Whe- Where's dad?!" demanded the little girl, glaring ferociously up at Black Canary, who seemed a bit lost.

"They're not here right now," tried Canary, only for the girl to start wailing louder again.

"I don't want to go to a o'-o'phan- home! I- Daddy didn't mean to do anything! He's a good father! J- Jade w- will take care of me- Don't put me in a home!" she sobbed, and Arrow's jaw clenched, as he moved forward.

"We know Artemis," said Green Arrow, and the girl's tears started to slow, "But right now, this is about you. We promise not to put you in a home. And we'll find Jade and she'll take care of you. But right now, we want your help."

Artemis was pretty much done crying, but the girl still sniffled, and Superman could see Canary trying to preserve her control, in the way her arms remained clenched. The girl furiously rubbed at her eyes, and then glared at the bed, before looking up in a most determined way. She nodded silently, and then waited. But she wasn't ready to trust Oliver just yet.

"Look," said Oliver, obviously wildly searching for some ground to work on, "We need to run a test on you, and then after, you can call your mom."

"I can talk to mommy?" said Artemis, hope shining in her eyes, before it was dashed away, and she frowned and said, "But daddy said it don't wo'k that way. He said she was in jail- no pa'ole. No visitas."

"Well, this is a special case," said Canary, catching on, "I mean, do you really think the Justice League would be here if it wasn't?"

Artemis now fully glanced around the room. Some confusion etched into her face at seeing the other children, before returning them to Canary. Something in the sincere expression Canary held made Artemis nod her head. Impulsively, much like with Kaldur, Canary reached out for a hand of Artemis's. The child gaped in wide-eyed awe as Canary held it, but she didn't move to discourage it. Canary gave it a squeeze, before removing it. The look of discomfort in Artemis's eye discouraging the super heroine.

"Wha- What do I have to do?" asked the child nervously, staring at Canary.

"This man here," said Canary, as she nodded to Zatara, "Is going to cast a spell on you. It won't hurt. Are you okay with that? Can you trust us?"

Artemis began to nod, before impulsively asking, "Why?"

"It's just to make sure that your father didn't put any magic on you," lied Oliver smoothly.

"But he didn't," insisted Artemis.

"We know sweetie," said Canary, going along with Oliver, "But it's a formality. So let's just make this quick, okay?"

"Okay," said the child grumpily, before glancing at the spellmaster.

He smiled kindly at the child, but he could see her fear in her eyes. She was afraid of what he may or may not do. The magician bent down to her eye level, surprising her. He was still smiling as he said, "You're not too sure, are you? What if I did a practice spell on Green Arrow over there?"

Artemis glanced over at Green Arrow, who looked a bit surprised. As she did, she missed the look Zatara sent him. He grinned and nodded then, and Artemis turned back to the magician. Still quiet, she just nodded. Zatara came before the archer. He placed both hands on Green Arrow's head, and loudly said some nonsense words, sounding similar to the spell, but in no way any form of English speech. Even if the speech would be backwards.

"See, nothing happened," said Arrow, smiling down at the child, as Zatara came back and pressed his hands to her temples.

"May I?" asked Zatara.

Artemis stared at him, and then nodded, hugging the blanket to herself, as Zatara said the spell. She was rolling backwards as Canary caught her and began to tuck her in. Arrow was breathing a sigh of relief and muttering curse words. The tension in the room grew considerably, and Superman didn't say anything as his eyes came to the pint-sized clone in the last bed. Nothing had to be said, but they all knew what was coming. He didn't move as Canary and Zatara made their way over, but from where he stood, he had a clear view of the boy. And he was close enough to catch him before any damage occurred.

Zatara glanced at Canary, who nodded. That was his cue as he began the spells. The cloned version of himself began to stir, and he awoke, looking around curiously. He didn't breathe a word. He didn't say anything. Instead, he just lay in the bed, looking at Canary and Zatara curiously. A collective sigh of relief was given, especially since he didn't attack. However, the tension returned as the boy just, well, lay there.

"Connor," began Canary, and with a jolt, Superman realized that obviously the Superboy had a name. He just hadn't known it.

The boy showed no recognition, as he continued to stare at Zatara. Obviously he hadn't known that name either. Not a good sign. Canary tried again this time, as she said, "Superboy."

Still no response. Well, not a bad sign. But not really a great sign. The boy turned to Canary, and she looked helpless. They had no clue what to do. Finally Canary turned to J'onn, and said, "Can you try a mental link?"

The martian nodded, and in seconds he entered the brain of the child. Whatever was occurring caused the child to cry out suddenly, and he began to whimper, shaking his head in fright. J'onn severed the connection immediately, looking rather displeased as he said, "He has no memories. Nor any real instincts around people. He's as good as a new born, but with the physical capabilities of a five year old human male. He cannot formulate any words just yet, nor does he have any knowledge of the world."

That was not good news. How the heck were they supposed to establish trust with a boy who had no clue what he was. He just looked at them with those big, innocent blue eyes. The boy had no clue what his future was. The purpose for which he was bred. Instead, he simply sat there, apparently confused and awake for the first time.

Canary was the only one who seemed to know what to do, as everyone stood helplessly. She moved and helped Superboy- Connor- Superboy, up into her arms. He sat up rather curiously, before grabbing her hair. He seemed fascinated, but unaware of his own strength as he tugged. Superman moved to detangle his hand, but Canary's hand came over Superboy's, untangling it as she held it. A few strands of blonde hair were caught in his fist as he looked at her. She smiled, though her hair was messy from the sudden attack.

"Hi there Connor," said Canary, as she glanced at Superman, seeing he'd moved closer. Superboy's gaze followed hers, and he saw Superman. He glanced at the symbol emblazoned on his chest, fascinated for a second, before he moved to sucking his thumb, just like a real baby would.

"Hello Connor," said Zatara with a smile, as he moved forward to greet the child. The kid looked at the man curiously, sucking his thumb as he played with his toes using the other hand.

"J'onn, can you tell from his emotions if he trusts us?" asked Batman, apparently not wanting to waste any time. Superman was relieved beyond words at this.

"He does," said J'onn, after a quick pause, "But I believe at this stage, he'd trust anyone."

That made Superman flinch, as Zatara took the boy's head and said the spell. He was out like a light, but Superman was thinking. He'd only been a baby when they indoctrinated him. Superman shrugged the thought off, mentally trying to distance himself from the boy as Canary tucked him him. This wasn't _his _problem. The League could handle it. And with that cheery thought, Clark followed the mentors out of the room, relieved this had been far easier than expected.


	3. The Third Trial

**Disclaimer: Wish I owned YJ, but I down. Screw CN for taking it off air. **

**Anyways, new chapter. Up later then intended, but I changed the viewpoints and I wanted to reread some of the comics to get the character right. And thanks for the reviews! **

**Third Trial**

When the children were once again put to bed, a second, informal meeting of the Justice League was called together. Only members who were available or mentors attended. Thankfully, it meant for a smaller meeting at the Watchtower, between Batman, Superman (who Barry was positive had been bullied to stay by Black Canary and Batman), Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Aquaman, Zatara, Captain Marvel, Hawkwoman, and Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern. Oh, and Barry himself.

During the time it took for everyone to gather, Barry had called his wife Iris, and explained the situation as best as he could. It took him three tries to speak in normal speed, but it had all worked out. Iris offered to explain the situation to Mary and Rudy, something which Barry was more than grateful for. The last thing he needed was to inform Mary and Rudy that his nephew had skewered his memories, age and body. Fact was, Wally was a five year old speedster with memories of being nine or ten, well, scratch that, Wally had a scrambled assortment of memories at the moment. How the hell do you explain that over the phone?

Not that Barry hadn't done the best damn job he could. He'd planned the entire thing out ten minutes prior. Which was a whole heck of a lot of time. He'd managed to recreate almost a hundred scenarios to how the phone-calls should go. He was lucky he'd managed to do as well as he did, in the little time he had. Speedsters definitely had an advantage there.

"Well, what now?" asked Green Arrow with impatience lacing his voice.

"We can't keep them here," said Black Canary with a sigh, "They're still children, and a prolonged exposure in space could damage their bodies. We have no clue what the effects could be."

"The Cave?" offered Hal, trying to encourage a positive outlook, though the bastard was having way too much fun watching them squirm.

"And who will care for them there?" asked Zatara, well, more demanded than asked.

"It's not even set up as a nursery," added Hawkwoman, the voice of reason to the situation.

Before any further pandemonium could break out among the arguing adults, the Batman stepped in, and in that firm, gravelly voice said, "Shut up."

Everyone went silent around Barry, and the speedster glanced over at Batman, and seeing Bruce's worry seep out for a moment before it was silenced by the Bats. He was tapping his foot impatiently, up and down, up and down, up, down, up, down, down, down, down. Over and over to try and keep sane. A hand came on his shoulder, and he saw Marvel glance to his leg, and he stopped, a little sheepish.

"So we have three main issues to cover for there whereabouts," came the Batman's logical manner, "First we need to establish a location for their stay. Second, we need to determine a set of guards for the children. And third, we need to acquire materials to care for children."

"Well, why not send them off to their parents?" asked Hawkwoman, and everyone glanced around.

"Artemis's mother is in a wheelchair," came Green Arrow's sigh, "Even if she is capable, a five year old is a lot of responsibility, and if her less than friendly relatives show up, Paula Crock's not going to be able to keep Artemis safe."

"And we've already discussed how this could be a part of a larger attack," explained J'onn, "Besides, M'gann has been staying at the cave, and I would not know where to keep her."

"Not to mention Superboy doesn't have a place to stay," said Black Canary, and Barry purposefully knew she had avoided mentioning that he did have a father, as Superman squirmed and looked away, earning a glare from Batman, "And not just anyone can handle a five-year-old Kryptonian."

"Mary and Rudolph aren't exactly young anymore," added Barry, "I mean, they'd love to take Wally, but I can't see them being able to keep up with a five-year-old speedster all day between their jobs."

"Then ship him off to daycare during the day," said Hal, which suddenly made everyone stare at him.

"A daycare," muttered Green Arrow, "That's actually pretty logical. Do we have a daycare for tiny tots, Bats?"

"There isn't one set up," said Batman. "But it has potential."

"But what about night-care?" asked Hawkwoman, "And who will run this daily care system?"

"Night-care we can send them back to their parents," said Black Canary, already plotting, "I'm sure Aqualad has a friend in Atlantis who can host him for the nights-

"I will see to it that he stays in the palace," interjected Aquaman.

"Wally can surely spend the nights at home or with you Flash. M'gann can stay over with J'onn for the nights up here. That leaves Superboy and Artemis, and even Artemis's situation is easy. Ollie and I can have Artemis stay with us and take her to see her mom during the evenings," said Black Canary decisively.

"Er- what?" asked Green Arrow, his jaw agape. Obviously he hadn't planned to adopt another kid.

"What about Superboy?" asked Captain Marvel, "He could stay with me! I've always wanted a little brother!"

"No," came Batman's voice, his eyes boring into Superman, as were most heroes, "As well as you could care for the kid, Billy, your uncle wouldn't be able to keep up with a Kryptonian."

"I can't take him," argued Superman, glaring at the Bats, "Clark Kent doesn't have a clone."

"But surely you can watch him for a few nights," said Canary, jumping in as the Bats looked ready to retort, "Clark Kent lives alone after all."

"No way," said Superman, as all eyes narrowed on him, "There are others! He's not my-

"We'll deal with Superboy when the time comes," said Batman firmly, ending the conversation. "Bigger questions at the moment. If we do start this daycare, who will run it?"

"Could we convince a few heroes out of retirement to babysit?" asked J'onn logically.

"What about teenage sitters? Not many heroes can be convinced out of retirement," said Barry, as he thought of Jay. While the old speedster wouldn't mind joining up, he couldn't see Jay as being able to handle seven five-year-olds over a course of how long this would take on a day-to-day basis.

"Where would we find these sitters?" asked Canary to Barry, and he sighed.

"Summer vacation hasn't started. Retired sitters could be best," said Batman, as though he was thinking of a logical solution already.

"Roy! He's not retired, but this would be a great opportunity for him to reconnect!" said Green Arrow excitedly, and Barry inwardly sighed at the other man's attempts to rekindle his relationship with the wayward son. But it could work. Or fail spectacularly like Green Arrow's many phone-calls at the start of Speedy's angry outburst.

"But we should have a few retired heroes on hand as well for other days," suggested Hawkwoman.

"I can ask the old Flash," said Barry finally.

"I could try to persuade Wildcat," offered Black Canary with a pensive look, "But he's not really the type to be good with small kids."

"Let's keep him as a back-up back-up," offered Superman, finally adding to the conversation instead of pretending the issue didn't involve him, "What about the old Green Lantern? The one that's not in the corps?"

"Alan Scott? I could try and find him," offered Hal.

"Not to be a buzz kill or anything," began Green Arrow, having seen the growing flaw in this plan, "But aren't the old-timers awkward around kids? I mean, seriously, Wildcat and five-year-olds? I think the teenagers will do just fine. Besides, we can have the League in and out of the cave to monitor the situation."

"I'm with Arrow on this one," added Barry quickly, "I mean, the old Flash is a great guy, but I mean, he has a life outside of being a hero. And these kids are going to be a handful with their powers, and memory issues."

"The memories will sort themselves out as the children's bodies begin to function more normally," interjected Zatarra, "But I too am uncomfortable leaving the children with the elderly. Zatanna as a child was mischievous in her magic, and the type to question everything."

"Perhaps we should revisit this idea of teenage caretakers," began Aquaman, "I have not heard of such a program. What is the purpose of youth caring for youth? Where are the nursemaids and parents?"

"The teenagers would just handle the whole care part, the protection part would be up to the League," informed Batman, not really giving any sort of explanation on how babysitters worked. Unable to answer a damn question properly. Just like the Bats.

"Babysitters are teenagers who act as stand-in for parents and older siblings," explained Barry gently, "It's not a bad idea, but if Roy's the only one-

"Maybe not," offered Batman, still keeping his thoughts to himself.

"I could ask for help from some of the students in Atlantis," suggested Aquaman, seeming to warm to the idea, "I know two of Kaldur'ahm is friends would be most delighted."

"What about food? How are we going to get these kids fed if the teens are in charge of cooking? They could be awful cooks!" asked Barry, already thinking of Wally's hyper-metabolism.

"Hold up- We're jumping way ahead," said Hal firmly, "We still need to figure out the whole in-between stuff. Teen sitters is a good plan, or a bad plan depending on the arguments. But none of that matters when it comes down to the fact that the Cave isn't a nursery. It'll take at least a few days to get it nursery-like, tops a week. Not to mention we need to sort out who's actually looking after them. The League of Shadows had a reason for this."

And like that, the meeting continued. Each passing minute had Barry looking at every situation with ten angles. Each angle would be torn to pieces by a logical or convoluted argument thrown in later. And Barry could safely say by the end of the meeting, he wasn't too sure if he still had a real explanation for Iris or not.

* * *

Hal wasn't sure how he'd been roped into this. One minute he was laughing at Ollie and Barry, the next Batman was ordering him about. Course he'd argued that it wasn't his responsibility, but Ollie and Barry had sided with the Bats. So now he was using his ring to carry children's clothing in one green shopping bag made of the aura like projection, and in another similar bag, food. Apparently he was drafted because the mentors would have their hands full. Bullshit. He was drafted because he'd been laughing too much at them. He knew. Bats knew. Ollie and Barry knew. And nothing could be done about it.

So here he was, with the rest of the Justice League kiddie monitors outside the door to the sick bay. As the meeting wrapped up, the monitors alerted Bats to the kids waking up. Not that J'onn and Superman were far behind, already hearing, or in J'onn's case, sensing their cries. Standing outside, it was the most surreal thing to see. All the kids were bawling loudly, except for Superboy, who looked extremely confused and distraught as he huddled himself in the blanket, rocking back and forth, with his hands over his ears. Probably the sensitive hearing kicking in. Artemis was crying, then wiping her eyes, and then crying again. M'gann, curiously enough seemed to stop crying. Her bed was by the one-way glass, but she pressed her hand to it anyways, and J'onn in turn pressed his hand to the glass, apparently already soothing her. Hal noticed immediately that as M'gann stopped crying, the other children seemed to start to calm down too.

Black Canary was quick to enter, followed by Zatara, Batman and Flash, who seemed to be having a competition to get through the door. Zatara won narrowly as he used magic to expand the doorway and enter comfortably, with the Flash zooming past. Batman had disappeared and reappeared by Robin's bedside before Hal could even blink. He turned to see Ollie awkwardly following Dinah to Artemis, as J'onn floated through the wall to M'gann's side, still silent and quiet as they spoke. The only kid without anyone was Superboy, and judging from his sad, lonely puppy-dog expression, the kid definitely noticed.

The person who should have been by his side was frozen beside Hal. He turned to see Superman struggling to do anything. If it wasn't for the kid's lonely attempt to distract himself with his toes, Hal would have just nudged the guy and moved inside. Unfortunately, the pitiful site was tugging on Hal's heartstrings, even if he'd refuse to admit it later on.

"Don't get me wrong or anything," began Hal awkwardly, "But the kid looks like he could use a friend."

Superman snapped out of whatever dazed moment he was in, and stared at Hal with a scared expression.

"Kids don't bite- much," stabbed Hal again, "Besides, you're invulnerable, he can't hurt you."

"Right," muttered the big blue Kryptonian, before he nervously stumbled into the room and over to the bed.

Hal stayed outside for a minute, giving everyone some privacy. He noticed Dinah, after having taken Artemis into her arms and explained the situation, was about to move to Connor, but stopped as the Kryptonian approached. A satisfied look was in her eyes as she held the blonde girl on her hip. The kid was enjoying the moment, as she leaned into Dinah and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck. Ollie hovered beside her, and she was staring at him with curiosity, while Ollie moved around her in fear. He snorted at that. Trust Ollie to be nervous of a kid.

Over with Superman, the kid, Superboy, seemed to recognize him, and stared in wide-eyed awe. Superman stood over the bedside, with Dinah practically glaring daggers into his back. Despite being unable to hear the actual conversation, he saw the kid point to the 'S' shield, and Superman nodding, before sitting nervously by the kid, who immediately scrambled to sit in the same manner, legs hanging of the edge of the bed, facing the man.

Over with the Bats, Robin was virtually nowhere to be seen, but Batman had his cape wrapped around him, like he was holding something. His head was bowed down, and it was impossible to tell, but Hal had a sneaking suspicion Robin was talking to the Bats from inside there. Zatara was listening to Zatanna babble as she made wide gestures with her arms, Zatara holding her from the front so they were speaking face to face, and he seemed to radiate happiness as he held the girl. Over with the Flashes, Barry was sitting on the hospital bed, with Wally sitting across from him, and he didn't have to be an idiot to know that they had gone into speedster talk, though if Wally knew, he didn't know.

Finally, Hal entered the room, and managed to hear the snippets of conversation as he moved to the Martian group first. Easiest ones, since M'gann simply morphed her body to resemble clothing. All he had to do was hand them a packet of oreos, a juice box, and a sandwich, and he was done. The Martians were floating above the bed, sitting cross-legged as they spoke. Sensing his approach, J'onn turned to nod to him, getting the little alien girl's attention.

"M'gann, this is my friend and fellow member of the Justice League. He is a Green Lantern on Earth," said J'onn, as the girl cocked her head. "Forgive M'gann for not addressing you, she is still unused to the idea of vocals on Earth. Her memory is quite scrambled, and she does not quite remember much about Earth customs just yet. And as most children at such a young age, she is more comfortable telepathically conveying her desires."

"No problem kid," he said, smiling warmly at the little girl, as J'onn continued, "She asks of me what a friend on Earth is like, so I conveyed the thought."

To his intense surprise, as J'onn finished that sentence, the little girl bounded at him, hugging him across the waist, and he suddenly felt warm and happy, and then he realized it was radiating from the kid, who was beaming up at him. J'onn mentally said something or the other to her, and she backed off, still beaming like a crazy kid up at him.

"What exactly did you tell her about friendship?" asked Hal, still taken aback at the warm reception.

"I merely conveyed the idea as expressed on Earth, and the feelings associated. M'gann is still a child, and thus her emotions get the better of her," explained J'onn, "It's why the other children must have been as upset as they were. Her own feelings of grief and fear affected those around her. As her happiness affects you."

"Strong kid," said Hal, as he pet her head, and she smiled up at him. She was cute, with those big orange eyes, and her orange hair, now done in pig-tails. Her outfit had morphed into a blue dress, flowery. Something his niece had worn once maybe.

"Indeed," said the Manhunter with a nod, "But a bit distracting. M'gann, focus your feelings towards myself, not Hal."

"Ah, anyways, lunch-time," said Hal, snapping out of the fuzzy warmth as M'gann turned her attention back to J'onn, moving closer to him. He dug out the oreos, a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich, and an apple flavoured juice box and handed them to the kid, who looked intrigued. J'onn helped her open the sandwich from it's wrapper, and she took a bite. He saw the older alien's attention on the oreos, and sighing, he fished out a second pack for him.

"Thank you," said the Martian, smiling at him, before returning to his silent conversation with M'gann.

Hal moved to the next bed, still a bit thrown by that experience, and suddenly wished he'd gone backwards. Now he was stuck with the next pair of aliens, who were considerably more awkward. The two Kryptonians were staring at each other, apparently conversation wasn't an option. Superman turned to him, relief entering his eyes.

"Green Lantern!" he said happily, "Superboy, this is Green Lantern, Lantern this is Superboy."

"Hey kid," he said, as the boy looked over him curiously, head cocked to the side. Another quite one. Great. "Er, I got some clothes and food for you. Here."

He plucked out the clothes first. Superboy's package was a pair of jeans for the five-year-old, and a little black shirt with the 'S' shield, just like his costume. The boy stared in awe at the shirt, apparently pleased, before turning to Superman curiously.

"Mine?" he asked softly, pointing to the S on the shirt, and then to Superman's, "Like yours?"

"Yours, like mine," nodded the alien, relieved the kid was responding. "Do you need help putting it on?"

"I can," replied the kid, easily ripping the hospital gown away. He wasn't ashamed about nudity, that's for sure, though the torn gown covered his legs and nether parts. With a much gentler touch, he pulled the shirt on, however, he was struggling to find the arm holes. To Hal's surprise, Superman helped him pull the shirt on, before taking the underwear in Superboy's package, and helping the kid step into it. The same occurred with the pants.

"There you go," said Superman gently, "Want to eat?"

The boy looked around, and then back at Superman before asking, "Like food? Or like tubes? I remember eating both."

"No tube food kid, just sandwiches, juice box and oreos," said Hal, fishing out the same sandwiches, juice and oreo packets he'd done with M'gann. The kid struggled with the wrapper. The unfortunate sandwich got torn in half at his attempts, before Superman took it off for the kid, who stared up in awe at the man as though he had just saved Metropolis. Again.

"How's the memory?" asked Hal, as the boy ate.

"He remembers vague things, but he's not too talkative. The most I know is he remembers the Cave and Cadmus, but what exactly, no clue, but I guess I'm working on it," said Superman, looking frazzled.

"I remember shtuff," said the boy, tearing away from the sandwich, which was almost over. Poor kid must have been starving.

"Like what?" asked Hal, and the boy now stared at him.

"The G-gnomes and Wally and Robin and M'gann and Artemis and Aqualad and Zatanna and the moon!" said the boy quickly, looking at the two older men.

"That's great," said Hal as he continued, "What do you remember about them?"

"It's fuzzy. Like the TV but that makes no pictures until someone presses a button," said the boy seriously, and Hal nodded as though he understood the analogy.

"Do you know who this guy is?" he asked, pointing to Superman.

"I already established that," said Superman with a glare at the Lantern, as Superboy simply said, "Superman."

The boy was now stabbing the juice-box with the straw, and in another series of misfortunes, he stabbed the straw straight through the box, exploding juice all over himself. The boy stared in wonder at the box, and the juice splashed all over him and the blanket. Superman looked dismayed as the boy stared at Hal, and asked, "Can I do that again?"

"Er, no kiddo, the point is to drink the juice," said Hal, fetching out another juice box, another shirt and jeans set for the kid and this time putting the straw in the box for the boy. "Have fun cleaning him up Superman."

The dismayed older man took the extra clothes, which Hal was relieved were packed, and set them aside as he went to the medicine cabinet, hidden in the wall and requiring the fingerprint of a League member to open, and grabbed some wet wipes to wipe the boy down as he sipped the juice at a much slower rate than he had the sandwich.

Moving on, the next group on his list was the unfortunate Bat family. Batman turned to glare at him as he came over. Robin was still barricaded behind his cape. Talk about a pleasant guy. Hal grinned and said, "Food and clothing for the kid."

"Pass it over," growled Batman, to which Hal did so, handing a miniature Robin costume. The costume was obviously store-bought, as the cape was fully yellow and the belt was made of cheap plastic.

"You're welcome," said Hal, rolling his eyes as Batman collected the items without even moving the cape so he couldn't see the kid. And with that, he was dismissed over to Zatara and Zatanna.

"Zatanna, you remember Green Lantern?" asked Zatara, looking over his daughter, who stared at the man.

"Yes daddy," she said, now staring at him with a curious, bright blue set of eyes.

"Just bringing over the food and clothing," said Hal, handing a miniature, girly version of Zatara's magician costume over to the kid, and the food.

"It's like yours daddy!" said Zatanna excitedly, showing her father the clothes.

"Yes it is," said Zatara, warmth in his eyes. "Let's get you dressed."

Taking that as an initiative to walk over to Ollie, Hal left the father and daughter to pull the bedside curtains and enjoy the together. Green Arrow now was talking to Artemis, while Black Canary kept her eyes on Superman and Superboy, but Artemis in her arms.

"How's the whole parental aspect to the mentoring thing going?" asked Hal, as he handed over a green version of the Green Arrow costume. Artemis having just debuted wasn't popular enough yet to have her own costume. Lucky enough, the Green Arrow costume was tailored for girls.

"It's going great," said Ollie, glaring at him, before smiling down at Artemis and saying, "Artemis, this is Green Lantern, you remember him, right?"

"Yeah, dad used to say the Lanterns are like night-lights, y'know? Cause they're useless and only make babies feel safe," said the little girl bluntly, "But he's your friend, right?"

"Night-lights," chortled Ollie, as Dinah turned to Hal and said, "He's okay with Superboy, right?"

"Er, seems fine. Kid doesn't really talk much that makes sense, but Superman isn't running away yet," said Hal, as he glared over at Ollie. "Anyways, Artemis, right?"

"Yeah," said the little girl, glancing up at him, "Hi."

"Hi Artemis," he replied, "Just so you know, the Green Lantern Corps is way more awesome than night-lights. It takes a special kind of person to work the ring."

Wrong thing to say. The kid turned bright red, and looked really sad as she huddled into Dinah and said, "Sorry," in a small voice. She turned to Dinah and continued with, "I messed it up didn't I?"

"Hey, nobody messed up," said Ollie, as Dinah added, "He's not mad sweetie."

"Er- what?" asked Hal, a bit taken aback.

Ollie gave him a sharp look, before taking Hal a bit aside as Dinah said, "I'll get her changed, give me a minute?"

"She's got issues," said Ollie bluntly, "Apparently her memories really distorted, and while she feels older, her body's natural childish tendencies are taking over. Plus her insecurities from the past and now are sort of wired together, so she's already tense around heroes, and even more afraid that we're going to send her back to her dad and the League of Shadows and train her or something. She's pretty much the most comfortable with Dinah because she remembers training with her and the occasional patrols together, combined with the fact that Dinah seems to know how to deal with this situation, well, she's good with it."

"And you?" asked Hal, as Ollie grimaced.

"I'm learning," said the archer reluctantly.

"Well, good luck," said Hal, "I'll leave you to it."

With that, the Green Lantern moved over to his final group of the day, the Flash family. The speedsters were so engrossed in their conversation, that he had to toss the food down in between the two, leaving five sandwiches, three juice boxes, and two packs of oreos for Kid Flash. He stopped talking, and cried out, "Food!"

Within seconds the wrapper was off the first sandwich and he was scarfing it down, moving like a little yellow blur as the second sandwich moved into his hand, taking the place off the first. Barry laughed at the kid, before turning to Hal and saying, "Hey."

"He's still in Flash worship phase then?" asked Hal, "Come to think of it, was he ever not in that phase?"

"He's having a bit of trouble differentiating between the Flash and Uncle Barry," said Flash, grimacing a bit, "I mean, he knows we're the same, but his memories are distorted to the point where he remembers instances with Barry, and instances with the Flash, but he can't seem to link them together as the same person. He knows he's Kid Flash though."

"That- How does that even work?" asked Hal, amazed.

"Well, he's talking to me about events that happened when we were doing the hero thing, but then when he mentions us going home for dinner or something, he'll talk about his Uncle Barry, and he calls me Flash. I asked him if he knew me, and he said yeah, and told me I was Uncle Barry, but he still differentiates it," said Flash, shrugging it off.

The kid was now downing a juice box, his other hand diving into a bag of oreos, despite two sandwiches still unwrapped. Apparently he was taking a break.

"So, to your house now?" said Hal with a nod.

"Yeah, to the house," said Flash, accepting the costume from Hal for Kid Flash.

"Can't say I envy you, telling Iris this," said Hal with a chuckle.

"Maybe she'll be too distracted with Wally to freak out," offered Flash with a shrug, "Besides, she knows the basics of the situation already."

"True, but by the time you get home, it's going to be four in the morning," said Hal with a shrug.

"She probably didn't sleep," moaned Flash, as Kid Flash turned to him and said, "We're notgoingtomyhouse?"

"You're staying over with Iris and me Kid," explained Flash, "Until we can age you back up."

"Okaythatsocoolcanwegeticecreamandstuff?" asked Kid Flash, still in hyperspeed.

"Slow down Kid," said Flash, laughing at the boy's excitement, "You're talking too fast again."

"Oh," said the kid, blushing, "Sorry Flash. Sorry GL."

"It's no problem Kid," said Green Lantern with a grin, ruffling the kid's hair, "I'm going to head on out anyways, this is more your angle then mine. Have fun you two."

"See you!" said the two Flashes in unison, before returning to their usual behavior as Hal left the sick bay, relieved to be out of that situation. He tossed a head back to see the group, and couldn't help feeling a little happy for all of them. He wasn't really jealous, the whole parenting this wasn't his forte and nor did he want any part in it, but the group seemed so content. It was great for them, even if they didn't quite see it yet.


	4. The Fourth Trial

**Disclaimer: You know where Young Justice belongs. I hate DC and the end of the Allen marriage. **

**I have so many ideas running through my head for YJ fanfics. I want to do a TT crossover with YJ, a TT crossover with JLU (Which, admittedly has nothing to do with YJ except for being DC) and then a YJ and JLU crossover. Rewatching JLU and I have never been happier. Who doesn't love the classics? **

**So many ideas. So little time. And way too many prior commitments. Story wise. This section ended up being more GA and Superman focused. Also, realized in the last chapter that I totally forgot Aqualad. My bad. He and Zatanna are sort of getting a lot less air time for the next two/three chappies. Mostly because I have very little to write for them. Maybe I'll struggle to put something together. But for now, Superboy and Artemis will get the most screen time, followed by Wally and Dick. M'gann third. Zatanna and Aqualad, I pray for you. Also, Rocket is in this fic, but she's not shipped with Aqualad. **

**Fourth Trial**

"I guess we should get these kids home then," said Green Arrow finally, after another relaxed hour went by, playing with the children and talking. Dinah had been proud when Ollie had praised Artemis, who seemed to warm up to him quickly after he mentioned that she was a great shot. The man had been taken aback, but was trying to make a connection with the girl. In turn, the girl had practically beamed at the praise, before revealing she wasn't used to it. Sportsmaster apparently neglected such praise when training his daughters. The thought made her cringe at the man's technique.

"No," replied Dinah sharply, however, and earned curious looks from everyone. She sighed as she felt a headache coming on. Was she really the only one who had any idea what work went into taking care of children? Surely she wasn't the only one who had looked up some of the requirements.

"Why?" asked Green Arrow finally, looking at her as though she was acting irrationally.

"Because, are any of your homes ready to occupy a five-year-old?" asked Dinah challengingly, more to all the men in the room.

"I can handle it," replied Batman coolly.

"No," repeated Dinah again, this time glaring him down, "You _will _handle it. It's currently nine AM Eastern Time. I want it handled by noon, for all of you."

"But why can't we go home?" asked Artemis, from her seat beside Green Arrow, who was staring incredulously at his girlfriend.

"Because sweetie," said Dinah in a warm voice, "We have to make sure that the homes are safe for you guys, and I'll be judging it."

"But it's just y'know, throwing some toys and clothes together," said Barry, looking at Dinah like she'd lost her mind.

"It's not just throwing together toys and clothes," said Dinah with a fierce glare, "It's making a safe environment for children to grow and learn in. Do you have any idea how much work goes into taking care of kids?"

"If I may enquire, what exactly do you need of us to do?" asked J'onn, as Dinah stared at the room of hopeless men.

"Black Canary," said Zatara firmly, "I have raised my daughter before at this stage and am capable of caring for her without instructions."

"Oh, of course Giovanni! I didn't mean you," said Dinah, whirling around in surprise at the man, "You and Zatanna can leave any time you want. It's these people I need to work with."

"Thank you," said the magician, a little less offended, "Come Zatanna."

Dinah couldn't help the fond smile as the magician offered a gloved hand to his daughter, leading her out the door as she chattered excitedly. Then the woman whirled around and stared at the men in the room, meeting the Batman's glare, before seeing Superman shift uncomfortably. If he thought for a second he was getting out of this, she'd go and screech directly into his ear. Superhearing be damned. Connor deserved that happiness. Placing her hands on her hips, she sighed as she tried to figure out how to explain this to the men.

"Kids, you're okay with each other while I borrow the men, right?" she asked, as the children nodded enthusiastically. They were most comfortable with each other.

"If I may," said Aquaman, interrupting her again, "I believe I can take Kaldur'ahm to the palace in Atlantis where he can stay until Sha'lain'a is contacted. Between the maid servants and his mother, Kaldur'ahm will be most comfortable at the palace."

"Very well," said Dinah, nodding her assent to the idea, "Kaldur, do you want to leave now?"

"Will I be seeing my mother?" he asked with wide, excited eyes.

"Of course," said Dinah, nodding her assent to the boy.

"Then yes," said the boy, scrambling off his bed. He had awoken last, after Hal had left the room. Dinah had sat with him, as had Aquaman, while the boy tried to communicate his confusion to them. Everyone but the King had forgotten that a young Atlantean child may need salt water to recuperate faster. After putting the boy in water, he'd woken up two hours later, very confused.

"Come Kaldur'ahm," said the King, leading the boy away as he followed like a duckling.

Dinah turned back to the room again, daring anyone to interrupt. Nobody did. However, she could feel the scepticism rolling off of Batman and Green Arrow. The Flash was trying to be accommodating, but his confusion was apparent as Wally sped over to Connor's bed. Batman let Robin down, and the child scrambled over to Wally and Connor, while M'gann simply floated to Artemis, making themselves comfortable the way children do.

"Outside," she said, as the men accompanied her outside the sick bay. Though they did stay by the windows to watch the children.

"Dinah, isn't it a bit unreasonable to presume we can't-

"No it isn't, Oliver," she said with a glare to her boyfriend, who winced in response, especially at the use of his full name. Turning back to the men, she began to fire off questions, "They may remember things from their older lives, but they're still kids. Special kids, for sure, but kids nonetheless. And their mentality is just like that of a child! You all have rooms in the house that kids shouldn't enter, Batcaves that Robins can easily explore and get hurt in, training rooms with arrows that Artemis could injure herself on, even a normal ordinary home with corners that Wally could run into when he's running at his top speed because of a lack of control! Not to mention the Watchtower is nowhere near safe for a child like M'gann who could just float through the walls and find weapons lying around!"

"She's too young to manage floating through walls just yet," offered J'onn.

"So what do you need of us to do?" asked Batman with a glare.

"Door locks for one," said Black Canary, "Each room in the house should have one, and in the Watchtower as well, since M'gann needs to stay with J'onn and she shouldn't be entering rooms that aren't safe."

"Easy enough," said Green Arrow with a shrug.

"Child utensils, plastic cups, plates, so that they don't break things," added Dinah, glaring as the men rolled their eyes but nodded. They were definitely underestimating this child thing.

"Alfred will probably have something for Robin that's child friendly," countered Batman, as though she was wasting his time.

Ignoring him entirely, Dinah continued, "Flash, I'd remove any rugs that Wally could slip on or burn if he's running, especially if he's not in control. I'd make sure that anything Robin can climb is secured to a wall or the ground, so he doesn't tip over and bring down the shelves. All of you need booster seats since they're kids and can't sit at a dining table without them, especially in your house Batman. Superman, you'll definitely need to make sure that your apartment is Kryptonian proof, so any toys are a bit tougher than the norm-

"Hold on! I'm not his dad! I can't keep Connor!" said Superman with a jump, staring at Dinah in shock.

"And do you want to be the one to tell Connor that _you- _the person he's gotten to trust in the last hour- isn't keeping him? Do I need to describe the abandonment issues that leads to in adults?" countered Dinah.

Superman blanched, and stared into the window at the kid, before glancing back at Dinah's firm glare, her arms crossed across her chest. He couldn't just say yes, he couldn't just say no. He stared helplessly at the little boy in the room, who seemed dazzled by the batarang Robin was holding. At any other moment, he'd have been concerned that the child had a batarang, but his eyes were focused on Connor. The little boy who just listened to him and said nothing, but the adoration in his eyes spoke for him. Why was this so difficult?

"I'll email you all a list of things, and you can head to Earth. Superman, deal with Connor. I'll watch the kids until you're all done and approved by me," said Dinah, not wanting to leave the kids alone anymore. Besides, these guys would take her far more seriously if she sent them off with a list.

"I-

"Deal with it Clark," said Batman with a growl as Black Canary went back into the room, and made sure to lock the door from inside, before the Caped Crusader stormed to the Zeta beams and back to Earth.

* * *

"Excuse me, but do you happen to have any Green Arrow merchandise for kids?" asked an all too familiar voice behind Roy Harper.

He'd woken up just an hour ago, having decided to sleep in since he'd taken a bad hit and bruised a rib while on patrol last night. Waking up, the archer had discovered, to his annoyance, that the fridge was empty. So he had made the smart plan to just do all his shopping today. And since Dinah's birthday was coming up, he'd entered the mall, despite himself, and gone straight to a Department store to find her something like perfume to wear or a butchering knife to kill Ollie when he screwed things up again. Only to hear Ollie behind him. Making the oddest request possible.

"Right this way sir," said the crisp voice of an attendant, and Roy ended up silently following the man to the kiddie section the store, and then watch him pick up the Green Arrow and Speedy action figures and toss them into a large cart. A cart already filled with what looked like child-locks, a childish set of plates featuring Green Arrow, arrow shaped cutlery, and a cup. He stared at the clothes in the cart. There was a little Green Arrow costume, and some regular clothes as well, most likely for a little girl. Now he was curious.

"Ollie?" he asked slowly, as he approached his ex-mentor.

"Roy!" said the man, startled as he turned to see his ex-apprentice.

"What the hell is all that for?" asked Roy, straight to the point, and a little annoyed.

"What's what for?" asked Ollie blankly, looking him up and down, trying to figure out his condition. Could he be anymore obvious?

"The stuff in the cart," said Roy with a scowl, "Green Arrow merch for a little girl? Please tell me that the kid is yours and Dinah's and not some imaginary niece."

"Er, well, it is the imaginary niece," said Ollie with a shrug, as he picked up a plastic bow and arrow set for kids with a scowl on his face, "How does anyone shoot this thing? The string is plastic- Wait- it doesn't even bend! It's just a gun toy meant to look like a bow!"

"Hold up- What the fuck does that mean?" asked Roy, staring at Ollie with his eyes wide. Artemis was sixteen- not six!

"It means what I meant," said Ollie seriously, tossing back the crappy bow as he stared Roy dead in the eye, "Artemis and her friends had a little mishap on a mission and came back a little bit smaller than normal."

"So- All this crap is for blondie?" asked Roy, as he stared at the cart, "Why isn't she staying with her mother?"

"Can't," said Ollie with a grimace, "Too risky. We have no clue who did this to them, or why. Safer if she stays with me. But Dinah wants the house kiddie-proof, and apparently I'm supposed to do it."

Roy's head was spinning as Ollie rolled the cart down the aisle and plucked up a Barbie doll meant to be Black Canary, and threw it into the cart with an obvious sort of leer. He left the Green Arrow Ken Doll after being offended that the thing didn't have his goatee, and was a brunette. Roy didn't have the heart to tell him that the doll was supposed to be Peter Pan, and that Green Arrow didn't have a Ken Doll.

"Isn't all this crap a little too obvious?" asked Roy as he followed Ollie, more out of curiosity on how the irresponsible man would deal with a kid than any concern for Artemis, "I mean- I'm pretty sure this is how indoctrination starts."

"She'll love it! Look what I found," said Ollie excitedly, digging through the cart and pulling out a black leather jack, tank-top and black shorts, "It's a knock-off Black Canary costume!"

"That's actually pretty kid-friendly," said Roy, before casually asking, "How are the others?"

"Memories are all jumbled, so they sort of rely more on feelings than actual memory of trusting us," said Green Arrow with a shrug, "Dick's a four year old. Daddy B is a thousand times more protective. Barry has a kid on a permanent sugar-rush to deal with. Hal was laughing his ass off. Kal went home to his mother since Arthur's not doing the whole parental thing."

Translation- Robin is four and Batman's going nuts. Kid Flash is still a speedster and probably the only person with enough patience for him is the Flash. Green Lantern is enjoying this way too much. Aqualad is back in Atlantis with his family.

"Oh," said Roy easily, "Well, I guess I should-

"No!" said Ollie, suddenly grabbing his arm, and the boy glared at his mentor until he let go. "I mean, stay a bit! Let's grab some lunch! I was thinking of making Artemis some of my chilli when she gets to our place, since the kid's never had any before, and Dinah knows I need help with this!"

Roy wanted to walk away. He didn't want to get involved. But Ollie was looking so desperately at him that he shifted uneasily. This was their first face-to-face conversation since he'd stormed out. Instead, he idly shifted the topic to, "She's never had the chilli?"

"Nope," said Ollie brightly, "And I'm going to make a large pot! Wonder if she can handle it, kid's pretty tough ya know. Stay for dinner and have some too!"

"Maybe not chilli for first night," said Roy with a sage nod, and like that, he had agreed to staying. If only because in his mind, it was to get blackmail pictures on blondie. And to make sure that blondie didn't die eating the chilli.

* * *

"Master Bruce," came Alfred's voice, "I've set up young Master Richard's room for him, and brought up some of your old toys and story books."

"Ah- Thank you Alfred," said Bruce with a nod, before returning to the screen of his computer. Upon returning home, he had informed Alfred of the situation at hand, and then done the responsible thing. He'd settled into the computer by the Batcave glaring daggers at the list Dinah had emailed while he went through the various results of the blood tests the kids had yielded. He was trying to find a reason that the kids had been deaged and left alive. It just wasn't the League of Shadows style. His eyes went over the crime reports last night, looking at the information he'd had Batgirl email him.

Batgirl. Another situation he'd have to start dealing with. It had been several months since the Killer Moth incident when Barbara Gordon had helped take down the idiot. Since then, Bruce had casually sent the girl a few batarangs. He'd also made sure to hack her computer system to keep an eye on what she was doing. Then just a month ago, he'd found out his ward had decided to trick both Bruce and Barbara so that the girl knew their secret identities. As annoying as it was, it was actually a saving grace with this incident. Especially if the baby-sitter plan ended up being the League's fall-back. Though, if it were up to Bruce, Richard would spend all his time in Alfred's more than capable hands.

"Any luck finding your answer?" asked Alfred, as he set down a cup of tea for Bruce, alongside a sandwich, which reminded Bruce that he hadn't eaten in at least six hours.

"Not a thing," growled Bruce, as he sipped the tea, "There's nothing connecting the League of Shadow's to deaging children, and nothing deadly affecting the children."

"Perhaps the incident was never about the children?" asked Alfred.

"Checking into that too. The League of Shadows hasn't lifted a finger beyond the bank robbery. I've been looking into possible partners of theirs. The Young Justice team confirmed that the League has some kind of connection to Queen Bee and Luthor, so I'm looking into their activities. And I'm looking into suspected magic users associated with the Shadows."

"And when will you be picking up Master Richard?" asked Alfred.

"Noon," said Bruce, as he glanced at the clock with the butler. Another half hour to go.

* * *

"So, he's five?" came Iris's voice, as Barry swooshed by her, causing her hair to flutter.

Barry had raced to the mall, buying everything for Wally's return, while Iris herself headed to the West house in Blue Valley and grabbed any and everything Mary West thrust into her hand. Needless to say, their current guest room was decked out to resemble the Flash museum, complete with posters, a Flash duvet and bed-spread, and a stuffed bear dressed like the Flash. There was also a smaller teddy with a yellow shirt and a clumsy red lightning-bolt painted on, as well as yellow swimming goggles that made Iris giggle when Mary showed it to her. Apparently Wally had made the doll himself after becoming Barry's sidekick. Barry had beamed when he'd seen the doll today for the first time.

"Yep," came Barry's voice, as the carpet suddenly disappeared under what looked like a large foam rug. "And with superspeed. No control!"

"You realize nobody's ever going to be able to take us seriously again if they see the house, right?" asked Iris, as she leaned against the kitchen counter. The edge was covered in a protective, rubbery rounding so that if Wally ran into the counter, he wouldn't hurt himself on the edge. The entire house was covered in foam, or bubble wrap, or rubber protectors. It was like Barry was making the place free of sharp edges.

"Probably," laughed Barry as he held her by the waist, now finally done. It was 11:57. In exactly three minutes, Barry would be off to grab their nephew, and bring him home. "But it makes good practice for when we have a little speedster some day."

"Maybe we should just leave this stuff up until that day then," said Iris with a gesture to the house, as Barry raised an eyebrow.

"Is that day soon?" he asked, a little worry in voice as it quivered. Iris smirked, and placed her hand on her husband's cheek as she calmly said, "Not for a few years, I should hope. Let's see how the trial run goes, hm?"

"It really does feel like we're going to be parents," confessed Barry, his face a little red, "I mean, I know he's not my kid, but he's my Kid, you know?"

"So he's Kid Flash, you're Flash, ergo he's Flash's kid," said Iris with a smile, "We just did things a little backwards. Got a teenager and are doing the toddler thing now."

"I'm excited," confessed Barry again, and Iris laughed as she kissed him, "Me too."

Their eyes drifted to the clock, 12:01.

"I'm late!" yelled Barry, as he ran upstairs to get his ring and disappeared, leaving Iris in the kitchen. She ignored the whoosh of air as she began to get a lunch ready, for her and her two boys. Her heart racing as she thought about the opportunity she had before her.

* * *

Superman was not a coward. Not a single person in Metropolis would ever call him a coward. But if anything scared him, it was this. After he'd spent a shameful hour trying to figure out how to tell Dinah he couldn't take the kid in, he'd called Perry and said he was sick. He'd faked a bad cough and everything. Perry sounded suspicious, but let it go, for which Clark was grateful.

It was just that Clark never used a sick-day before. He used a few vacation days here and there for League missions, claiming he was visiting his parents. That was easy enough to pass off, since for humans, they'd need four days to drive out of the city. For Superman, it was about a half hour flight. Ten if he was rushing himself. More often than not, his missions coincided perfectly with a report Clark Kent was doing on the situation. And his job was the type that if he told Perry he was investigating a lead, he could sneak away and do the Superman thing without taking a sick day. Sick days were foreign to Clark Kent.

But today was a different day. He hadn't even thought of how off character it sounded for Clark Kent to take a sick day until ten minutes later Lois called him and asked him where the hell he was. Jimmy had actually been concerned that he was unwell. Lois was just suspicious. He had a feeling his fake coughs hadn't passed by her. But he wasn't able to worry about that.

Instead, he'd flown to the farm. He had vaguely told his mother he needed some things, and asked a few questions about his own childhood as he dug through the attic for a while. She hadn't asked him about the toys he'd taken, or made any sort of comment on the situation. She hadn't asked any questions. He'd offered no answer either. She'd simply sent him home with a pie and to take care. Of what, she didn't specify.

Clothes had been easy enough. Bedding was a bit trickier. He only had one bed in his apartment, a large double bed, mostly for show since he didn't need as much sleep as a regular human being. That and because more often than not his nights were spent searching for criminals or rescuing people from fires. But if Conner were staying here, the bed would probably be good enough for the kid. He'd sleep on the couch.

The toys were another matter entirely. As a young boy, his super strength had made it so most of his toys were broken or snapped in hours of his parents acquiring them. He could remember the frustration rolling off at that time. Other children couldn't play with him because he was too dangerous. He found himself staring at the toys that survived his childhood wondering if they would survive Connor's. He had a suspicious and nagging feeling that they wouldn't. But he couldn't go back on it now.

Probably because said boy was holding his hand with a grip as firm as a full-grown man as they went to the Zeta transporter. He hadn't said a word beyond hello, and Clark wasn't sure what to say to the little boy, as they found themselves now in an alley in Metropolis. Well, probably a good time to explain the concept of secret identity, he decided, as he pulled on glasses.

"Why are you wearing glasses?" asked Conner, as he ducked into the shadows and pulled on a shirt and jeans over his costume. He'd change out of it later.

"Conner," he said, bending down as Clark now, feeling more nervous than ever, "My name isn't Superman, I use another name when I'm not Superman."

"You're not Superman?" asked the little boy, as Clark lifted him into his arms as they walked into his apartment building, which was just across the street from the Zeta transporter. "But you just put on glasses and pants! Aren't you Superman?"

"I am, but only when I wear the costume," explained Clark as he pressed the yellow up button, "But when I'm not wearing the costume, I'm Clark Kent."

"Really? That's your name?" asked Superboy excitedly, "I'm Conner Kent! We're Kents! M'gann and her uncle and Red Tornado helped me pick my name! Did they help you pick yours? Did oldie man Mr. Nelson give you his name too?"

"No, my parents gave me my name," said Clark gently as they entered the elevator, as the little boy frowned and looked at the tile. Quiet again. Well, shit. "Connor?"

"I don't have parents," he said softly, suddenly squirming in Clark's hands. If Clark was an ordinary man, the boy would have probably escaped his grip. Luckily, Clark managed to hold onto the kid as the elevator beeped open and they walked towards his apartment, Clark holding the child the entire way.

"Well, I'm not a dad," said Clark, watching Conner's face fall even further, "But I'm Clark, and you're Conner. We're both Kents, and we're both Supers. Is that okay?"

"So- I'm yours?" asked the little boy, his blue eyes pleading for assurance and longing for a connection. That made the Man of Steel stop right outside the elevator,.

"Kind of," said Superman, trying not to flinch and run away, which it really helped that the kid was now hugging him tight with joy. What was with this kid and looking so open and vulnerable? Couldn't he just look- less kiddish? It made it easier to remember that this kid was designed to replace him and was not really his child. Right?

"So- when you wear clothes, I call you Clark?" asked the little boy curiously. And Clark's neck was released as he shifted the boy.

"Sure thing," he asked easily, not feeling all that comfortable being addressed as Clark from the kid. But there wasn't really any other options.

The boy looked at him for a moment, as though piercing his soul. He tried to ignore the way the boy looked at him. He seemed like he couldn't find the right words. Neither could Clark really, but this was a lot easier than telling the kid to call him Clark. It was just a horrible fit. Instead, Clark headed down the hall and to his apartment, unlocking the door and walking in. It didn't distract the boy at all as he locked the door. He was still staring at Clark with those big, endless blue eyes.

"Can't I call you Superman? You're supposed to be Superman," asked the kid finally, in a quiet, scared voice.

"Not when I'm not in costume," said Clark, feeling guilty for something he didn't know, "I'm Clark now. And you can't tell anyone I'm Superman either."

"But I'm in costume right now!" said the little boy, pointing to the 'S' symbol on his chest, "And you call me Conner. Does that mean people can know I'm Conner?"

"Well, no," said Clark, wondering why he had initiated the conversation now, "But I don't think people will remember that you're Superboy really."

"Because I was big at Cadmus?" asked Superboy curiously, and Clark nodded.

"Exactly like that," said Clark.

"But I'm in costume!" said the little boy adamantly, "Which means I'm Superboy right now!"

"Do you want to change out of costume?" offered Clark, "Into something for Conner to wear?"

"Conner doesn't have anything to wear," said the little boy with a sad little pout.

Clark smiled for the first time today. Finally he had a problem the kid presented that he could solve! Clark moved and pulled out a red shirt and jeans, grinning at the boy who looked at them curiously. He glanced back up at Clark, confused.

"For Conner to wear," said Clark with a grin, "Now you can be Conner."

He helped the little boy into the plain shirt and jeans, as the boy stared curiously at them. He refused to take of the 'S' shirt, but was happy enough to pull on the button-down red shirt. He lead Conner over to the couch, as the boy kept curiously patting his chest. He'd open the shirt and look down, to keep checking for his other shirt.

"Conner needs glasses, doesn't he Clark?" asked the little boy, pointing to Clark's.

"Not all secret identities need glasses. When you're older, we'll get you a pair," offered Clark, and the boy nodded, apparently satisfied.

That awkward silence returned. Apparently the idea of secret identities could only drag on the conversation so long. And now they had nothing to say. Instead, Clark watched as the little boy stared around the room, fascinated. His apartment wasn't much. Just a brown couch, small T.V, a little too white kitchenette, and a bedroom down the hall. But the kid seemed fascinated, as he moved around the house, staring at the pictures of the people. Each time Clark thought the kid was going to ask a question, he didn't, and would move on. It was like the kid was scared of him! But if he was, it made no sense for the kid to keep turning and looking to make sure he was still there. Almost like checking for that 'S' symbol.

When the doorbell rang, Conner jumped in surprise, and began looking for the source of the noise. Clark couldn't help the grin on his face, as he calmly explained, "Just the doorbell Conner."

Clark moved to open the door, not sure who would come by at this time. Conner waddled behind him, clinging to his pant leg tightly, probably tearing the fabric a little as he stared at the door. Clark glanced down at the kid in surprise.

"What's wrong?" asked Clark, letting the person behind the door ring the bell again, rather than answering as per his norm.

"I don't want you to go," said the little boy with a scared look, "Please don't leave me alone!"

Clark gaped at the kid, unsure where he got this idea from. Instead, he bent down and faced the kid, trying to make sense of it all, as he calmly said, "Just answering the door Conner. I won't leave you alone."

"Okay," said the little boy, reassured. Damn that trusting little face.

Clark shook his head as he went to the door, trying to figure out why the doorbell seemed to make Conner think he was leaving. Instead, the bell rang again, and was accompanied by vicious pounding on the door frame. He opened the door, and then wished he hadn't as a fist swung by him, apparently about to pound the door.

"Smallville! Must be a serious illness if it takes you more than a minute to get the door," came Lois Lane's drawl, as she smirked up at him. Well. Shit.


	5. Superman's Trial

**Disclaimer: Same as Yesterday. And the previous chapters from before yesterday. **

**Two days in a row. Love it. No real pairings planned. I was going to be very canon to the show, y'know the usual Chalant, Spitfire, Supermartian, etc. But now I found I really like SeaArrow and Birdflash. Not to mention a loose little idea about Zatanna/Roy from another fic I've started writing that may never see the light of day. So pairings, nada. Also because I think it's too weird to write about little kiddy romances. So basically, this fic is very much a Gen fic. **

**Still not sure about Supergirl. Though I did give her a tossaway mention. Only really know her from JLU. But she and Batgirl do make a damn awesome combo. Even if I'm thinking of her and Stephanie and not Barbara since I have very little exposure to Barbara Gordon's version of Batgirl. But she was pretty damn awesome as Oracle so I'll try and channel that. **

**Superman's Trial**

Conner didn't quite understand this idea of secret identity. His head hurt trying to make sense. All he knew was that when he wore the red shirt, he was supposed to be Conner. But who was Conner? All he knew about Conner was that he wore this red shirt and was also a Kent. Conner had a Clark. Superboy didn't have Superman, Superman was too busy. But he wasn't Superboy right now, he was Conner. And Conner had Clark. But Clark was Superman. And now his head was hurting again. He just didn't understand.

When the doorbell rang, Conner had jumped. It sounded strange. Like the bell at Cadmus signalling he had to go back in the pod. Clark had started to leave, and Conner panicked. He was going to be all alone again! The G-gnomes would stuff him in a pod! He said he wouldn't leave him alone, so Conner stayed by the couch, watching Clark. Clark stayed with Conner. He was Conner's Clark.

"Smallville," came the voice from the doorway. It was a sharp, playful sort of voice, that reminded Conner a bit of Artemis but lighter and less grouchy. "Must be a serious illness if it takes you more than a minute to get to the door."

Conner stared. Clark wasn't sick! The only reason he hadn't gotten to the door is because Conner was here! Was she trying to say he made Clark sick? He glared at the door way. Clark moved then, suddenly bringing the door closer to his body as he leaned against the frame, trying to block the view. Conner couldn't see the owner of the voice anymore, but he felt uneasy as he watched the door. It was closing. Clark wouldn't leave- would he?

"Lois! What are you doing here?" asked Clark, sounding upset. He could tell because Clark's voice did that high-pitch thing that Wally had done when Robin was making fun of him. Robin said that it was a tell to when people are upset. That meant that the owner of this mysterious voice was making Clark upset. Conner didn't like the voice.

"Checking on you," came a sharp retort, "When Perry told me you were taking a sick-day I was positive you were dying! Jimmy wanted to come too, but I talked him out of it. And I brought soup!"

It was true, thought Conner, as a smell entered his mind. It was a tangy, sweet smell of something warm and buttery. Tomatoes. There was definitely a hint of tomato. His stomach was rumbly, and he really wanted that soup. Maybe Clark could just take the soup and make the mean voice go away.

"Ah- Thank you Lois," said Clark, sounding warmer now, less scared. "You really didn't have to do that for me. Don't you have any work to do?"

"I was in the neighbourhood," came the flippant response. "But you don't look sick at all. Mind sharing?"

"Uh- It's just a cough, didn't want to risk anyone catching anything," said Clark quickly, "Besides, I had a late night."

"With no bags under those eyes," came the sardonic reply, "Clark Kent, our job is all about late nights. Don't even try that with me. You're hiding something."

While Conner didn't see anything, he could hear the lady voice pat Clark's chest, like she was poking him. Wally poked a lot, but that was because he was moving too fast and he hit things. It hurt trying to talk to Wally. Robin was easier, he talked slower. Conner liked Robin, even if Robin liked to climb onto his shoulders. He didn't mind too much.

"Not really," came Clark's reply, he sounded smoother now, but he spoke quicker than normal, and Conner frowned. He began looking around the room. What was Clark hiding? He began to shuffle around, lifting the couch cushions to find this mystery. He'd hide it for Clark so the mean lady voice wouldn't get it.

"So why won't you let me inside?" came the lady voice, sounding suspicious. Sort of like Black Canary did when Robin told her he hadn't hacked her email so that Batman knew he wanted cake for lunch.

"Now's really not a good time Lois," came Clark's voice, pressing this Lois character urgently, as he pulled the door tighter to him. Conner froze, watching that door. If Clark stepped a little bit forward, he'd be gone! His eyes were now glued to the door, ignoring the strewn cushions of the couch and the picture frames on the end table that were on the ground.

"So you are hiding something!" said Lois, sounding surprised, "Clark- Is everything- _okay_?"

"I'm fine Lois," said Clark, sounding a bit uneasy, "Look, just pretend this didn't happen, okay? Thanks for the soup. I'll explain everything when I get back to work."

She banged against the door suddenly, but Clark was holding the door. And Clark was Superman. His grip didn't even slip as she tried to sneak past him. Instead he held the door tighter, and the lady voice sighed.

"Fine, don't tell me," she said with a glare.

"You really didn't think I don't know you well enough to know you'd try and force your way in?" asked Clark, sounding amused.

"Alright then, if you really want me gone, you're going to walk me down to the lobby, and I'll get to ask you twenty questions, deal?" asked the woman, less playful than before.

"To the elevator and you get five questions," countered Clark.

"No!" shrieked Conner, before he could stop himself. The little boy scrambled and ran into Clark's leg, arms wrapping possessively around the muscle as he buried his face into the cotton fabric of his pants. Clark had promised he wouldn't leave! But now he was going to walk out the door! He was leaving Conner! Clark said he wouldn't! This fact was important!

"You said you wouldn't leave!" accused Conner angrily, pouting up at the man, his eyes big and blue, like little accusing fists as they punched straight to Clark's heart, "You said!"

* * *

Lois knew that Clark wasn't going to let her in. If she was determined to get into the apartment, he was twice as stubborn to keep her out. The mystery of the matter was gnawing at the reporter, but she kept the banter light, despite her own worry. What was the goody-two-shoes farm-boy involved in that he was keeping her out? Clark was a little naive, and she was almost afraid that he'd gotten involved in something big.

Hence the agreement to question him. She'd leave (for now) and get to interrogate him in a manner that only Luthor got before he'd finally cave, or she'd collected enough information to formulate a hypothesis to test. Then she'd come back later and sneak in after jimmying the lock a bit. Nobody kept her away from a scoop!

But that entire plan was blown through the roof as a small, high-pitched yell of denial tore through the air, and Smallville's entire body stiffened. His face drained of all color. Before she could even find her voice, there was two tiny fists wrapped around the man's leg, clinging to him tightly. A small, black-haired face was pouting miserably up at Clark, accusing him of abandoning the boy. Lois took a step back, thrown, as she stared at the little kid.

He was a little tall for a five-year old, maybe he was six, and had glossy black hair that had just a slight curl to it. It was a little long, as though the kid hadn't had a cut in a while, and some of the hair fell onto his forehead. The kid was cute, adorable actually, with his flushed red face, and eyes the size of small islands as he jut that little lower lip out. Clark looked as though he was going to faint, which made Lois positive that the cat was out of the bag, or in this case, the kid was out of the apartment.

"Well Smallville," said Lois, shifting the plastic bag she was carrying with take-away soup, and tilting her sun-glasses up in her black hair as they began to slip, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"You said!" came the insistent little voice again, "Clark's s'posed to stay with Conner! Ca'ary said you would!"

Carrie? Was that the kid's mother? Though it sounded like Ca Airy, as the kid's eyes watered, looking like a kicked kitten. Lois glanced over at Clark, who seemed to be trying to say something but was lost.

"Carrie you're mother kid?" asked Lois, bending down now to get answers from the boy.

This time the boy turned to look at her, and Clark seemed to finally snap out of whatever funk he was in. Before he could do anything though, those little blue islands narrowed into an angry glare, filled with rage as the boy clung tighter to Clark's leg, probably a step away from wrapping his legs around Clark, as he pouted furiously at her. It was actually pretty funny to see such an angry little kid attached to Smallville's leg. Especially since he looked so much like Clark. The resemblance was uncanny. Took the meaning of a carbon copy to another level. Carrie- Ca Airy. There was something to look into there.

"Clark's mine- Cause I'm Conner," he declared proudly, "Conner's a Kent and he's Kent! So go away!"

"Conner!" said Clark, looking thoroughly embarrassed, "That's not nice to say to Lois! Look, I'm not going anywhere, so apologize to Lois and go inside, I'll be there in a second."

"But she's mean Clark!" pouted the little boy again, staring up at Clark dejectedly, "She made you scared!"

"I'm sorry I scared your Clark," said Lois with a smug grin, and the story of a lifetime. She stared back up at Clark, who was giving her a dirty look, probably reading her thoughts as the little boy clung refused to let go of Clark.

"See, Lois apologized for scaring me?" said Clark gently, "Now can you apologize for being mean to Lois?"

"Fine," said the boy, looking angry again as he stared at her. With a very solemn air, he announced, "Conner's sorry that he was mean even though he really isn't all that sorry because you're not really that nice and Robin says that you tell people you're sorry only if they deserve it and you don't but I'm telling it anyways because Clark says I have to."

"Well, Lois forgives Conner even though he's not the least bit sorry," replied Lois with an equal air of solemnity.

"Can she_ leave _now?" asked Conner, not looking the least bit upset about Clark's resigned expression or his lack of apology. "I'm hungry!"

"There's some food in the fridge. I put some juice boxes in there, why don't you grab some, but be careful, okay?" offered Clark, not bothering to correct the boy as he walked away. There were tears in Clark's pants from where the boy was holding. Strong grip, since the pants seemed pretty new.

"Well?" asked Lois, now standing up to face the farm-boy who looked like he was torn between slamming the door and running away, or bolting straight past her. Personally she hoped he bolted past her and left the kid, she still had a thousand questions and the kid was probably going to answer them better anyways. Even if he didn't like her.

"It's not what it looks like," blurted the man, his glasses tipping a bit as he pushed them back up, and then ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh it looks bad Smallville," said Lois, as she faced the frazzled man, "He looks exactly like you. But the eyes seem brighter. Heck, I've only ever seen one pair of eyes that blue. I bet in a few years that kid's going to be using those eyes to drag in the girls by the dozens. Question is, what's a kid that looks like you would if you ever went for contact lenses, doing in in your house? Any leads on the mother?"

Lois watched the man in the door frame, who had frozen entirely and seemed to be staring at her as he clutched the door tight. Almost like the way the kid clutched his pants. He seemed to be struggling to find an answer, and then weakly said, "He's a relative of mine."

"Thought the only relatives you had was your mother and father?" tossed Lois back playfully, "Carrie? That the mother?"

"He's not my son," said the man, dropping his voice to a whisper, "Look, he's my cousin Carrie's kid, I'll explain everything to you tomorrow. But right now I have a five year old tearing my fridge apart-

On cue came the call from the little boy, "Clark! Is _she _gone yet!?"

"Say no more Smallville, here, keep the soup," said Lois with a smirk, "And I never said he was your son. Besides, last I checked, your cousin's name was Kara, wasn't it?"

Lois turned as Clark sighed in relief, and despite the worry still in his eyes, shut the door on her. She was a little miffed but shrugged it off as she stepped away from the door and headed to the elevator. Clark Kent was a dad. The innocent country boy had a son! As she pressed the elevator button, she couldn't quite fathom why she felt so damn angry about it.

* * *

Back inside the apartment now, Clark was leaning against the door. Murphy's Law at it's finest. Everything that could have gone wrong had gone to pieces in that short conversation. He doubted that that would be the last time he saw Lois, or that Conner saw Lois. She was going to keep hounding him for details. And he had no cover story. Unlike Bruce and Oliver, he couldn't keep out people with gates and cameras. He should have been listening for the footstep pattern. He should have looked through the door. If he had been better prepared for Lois, he could have kept her nose out of this.

As it standed, when he walked back towards the kitchen, his face fell even further. The living room had been torn apart, with cushions thrown everywhere. A few picture frames were over-turned. The kitchen fridge had been emptied. Two juice boxes looked as though they had exploded in Conner's hands and all over the fridge. The jar of pickles had been removed by Conner, who was staring in fascination at it, shaking and watching the pickles jiggle. Before Clark could tell him to put down the sharp and dangerous toy, Clark watched with amazement as the kid's hands wrapped around it and crushed the glass to pieces.

"Conner!" came his voice, as the little boy squealed and dropped the pickles and glass. Clark had moved quick enough to grab Conner out of the way of the shards and to the other side of the kitchen area. The little boy was whimpering, and Clark gazed in horror at the sharp glass edge embedded in his hand. He'd completely forgotten that he hadn't been invulnerable at that age. His skin was still penetrable!

"Conner! Are you- Let me see that!" said Clark, sitting the boy on the counter as he used his x-ray vision to see through the hand. The glass had cut deep, but it missed any major arteries and was mostly a superficial wound in his hand. The majority of the glass had become powder from the force the kid displayed. For an instant, Clark imagined Black Canary screeching about safety in his ear. He was doomed.

"It hurts," whimpered the little boy, his nose sniffling as the first few tears fell out.

"Here," said Clark gently, as he held the boy's hand and began to slowly wedge the glass out from the skin, careful not to hit anything as he did. Once the glass was out, Clark began rummaging for make-shift bandages. He'd never needed any first-aid kits since his own skin was impenetrable, and on the off-chance that something did cut through him or he got hurt, the Watchtower was more than equipped to deal with his injury. Moving quickly, Clark grabbed a pillow case and tore it up, using the fabric as make-shift bandaging as he wrapped it around the bleeding hand. He wondered if Conner needed stitches, or if his healing was already accelerated at that age. Now he had a strange image of putting Conner into the sun to heal. Maybe he should fly the kid closer to the sun so his cut got better.

"I didn't used to get cut unless it was the bad green rock," said Conner, looking depressed, "The G-gnomes said that was the only thing that hurt me. Now I can't fly or make red eyes or see through things and now I get hurt?"

"Hey, it's okay kiddo," said Superman, trying to cool the boy's pain, "It's just because you're still little. When you get big again, all those things will come naturally."

"Really?" asked the little kid, looking thoroughly pleased and distracted from the red stain on his hand, "So Cadmus did put me together right."

And there was the reminder that the kid was a weapon. Clark stiffened, but the boy didn't notice as he beamed so eagerly up at the man, and Clark felt a twinge of guilt. The kid probably had no clue about all his powers, and must have been terrified about it for a long time. But he was a weapon. Only because he'd been trained that way. And now Clark was confused all over again.

"Let's eat," said Clark, as he ruffled the kid's hair affectionately, "Want some soup?"

"I've never had soup," said the little boy with a shrug, looking curious and openly up at the boy.

Clark moved to the package that Lois had brought, and opened it to reveal a large take-away tub filled to the brim with hot minestrone soup. He could smell the various spices, some pepper, oregon, a hint of basil, and something spicy. Lois was never the type to do traditional chicken soup. The lid had a fat little chef with a big curly mustace, and the name Papi's written below. He'd heard of the restaurant from Lois, who often brought take-out from there for lunch.

"What is it?" asked Conner, shuffling over to the carton of soup, "Smells good."

"It's minestrone," said Clark with a smile, "Let me get the place cleaned up, and some spoons, okay?"

"'Kay," said Conner with a nod, and he waited and watched as Clark swept the place up with a quick few brush strokes. The pickles followed the glass into the garbage can. Two spoons were dug out from the drawer, not really soup spoons, but would suffice for the lunch. He grabbed the carton and opened it up, revealing the thick red liquid, swirling amongst chopped celery, onions, carrots and pasta. A thick layer of parmesan cheese surrounded the centre, with a little coriander leaf as garnish.

"Looks good," commented Clark, putting the issue with Lois out of his mind as he dipped the spoon into the soup and stirred.

"The cheese is gone!" said Conner, amazed as the Parmesan disappeared into the red broth, and the steam simmered up, letting the tomato and garlic scent waft into their nostrils. The sausage in the soup dipped in and out. Conner was entirely confused with the spoon, and Clark watched as he mimicked Clark's gestures of stirring, but the boy lifted it too quickly and the soup dribbled back into the carton. Which was ten times better than hot soup spilling on the kid.

"Here," said Clark, taking out Conner's spoon. Conner watched curiously as Clark stirred the soup a bit more, and then lifted a little up to his loops and blew on the soup gently, just enough to cool it down a bit with one breath, and then offered it to the boy. The kid latched onto the spoon, and swallowed the red liquid and bit of celery, smacking his lips.

"I like it!" said Conner excitedly, beaming up at Clark, which surprised the man. He wasn't too fond of spicy food himself, Lois liked it much more than himself. That was really the only reason he ate spicy foods when he went out with her. Apparently that trait of his didn't extend to Conner. Genetics be damned. It was actually really pleasing to know the kid wasn't entirely like Clark. Couldn't entirely become him.

"Have some more," said Clark, offering the second bite, which Conner accepted with a beam, this time happier to have the sausage as he chewed. While he chewed, Clark took a bite and swallowed the bit too spicy liquid down with ease. It burned his tongue a bit, but Conner already had his mouth open for another bite.

Between the two of them, they managed to fall into a rather comfortable silence as they ate the soup. Clark still wasn't sure what to do with the boy, but he was making progress. Now if only he could go and solve the Lois problem. But Conner needed him here. God knows why the boy was so desperate to have Clark. His Clark. He found it funny that the boy was already possessive within a few hours. Were kids usually this quick to get attached? Not for the first time was Clark wishing he could ask his parents for advice. But that meant talking about Conner to them. Explaining that he'd been bullied into the role at a last minute situation.

"Let's get you all washed up, okay?" said Clark, as he tossed the spoons into the sink and the carton the soup came in into the garbage.

The boy put his arms up to be lifted, which surprised Clark, but he allowed it to happen as the kid snuggled into his arms. He wondered if it was natural for all kids to feel sleepy after eating. Leading the boy into the bathroom, he easily helped the boy slip out of his clothes, now stained in pickle-juice, and tossed them into the laundry. Something told him more laundry was in his future.

"No!" said Conner nervously, as Clark moved to lift off the Superboy shirt.

"Conner, we need to get it off. You have to take a bath," said Clark, confused at the boy's reaction.

"I'm not Conner right now, I'm Superboy," said the boy, "Cause I'm wearing the shirt now! But if you take it off, then I don't know I am."

Clark stared at the kid, and suddenly realized that despite sounding like he understood, Conner had no idea what a secret identity meant. He should have probably realized this, and then thanked his stars that Connor hadn't mentioned anything about secret identities or Supers while Lois was here. Maybe Murphy's Law wasn't applied in this situation after all. However, his thoughts returned to the matter at hand as he stared at the little boy clutching the pickle-juice stained t-shirt, and looking lost.

"Conner, the shirt doesn't make you Superboy," said Clark gently, "Nor does covering the 'S' shield make you Conner. You are always Conner. But when you help people or are on missions and are wearing the 'S' shield, you become Superboy."

"Why?" asked the kid, always quick to reply, and for some reason, always with a question, "Why do I have to be Conner? I don't know who Conner is!"

"Hey now," said Clark, softly, "Look, I'm always Clark. But when I was growing up, I didn't know much about Clark either. I had to find it out as I did new things. I bet you can name at least five things Conner does."

"Uh huh," said the boy, still a little confused as he recited it off, "Conner likes mini-stone soup. Conner is a Kent, so Conner has a Clark, because Kents have Clarks. And Conner doesn't wear the 'S' shield. Conner goes to school."

"See, five things that Conner does that Superboy doesn't. And you are Conner, you'll always be Conner. But you have friends at school, right? Friends that only know Conner?" continued Clark gently.

"Yeah, Wendy and Marvin and Mal and Karen but I don't like Mal much 'cause he wore _my_ symbol that's only for me and Superman!" continued Conner, looking thoroughly put-out at the memory.

"Well, those people are important, right?" said Clark, ignoring the matter of Mal's shirt, "But they can't protect themselves. So if they were seen with Superboy all the time, they'd be in trouble."

"Really?" said the little boy, his eyes wide and terrified. Why did he have such damn expressive eyes? "But I don't want them to get hurt!"

"That's why you are Superboy when you save lives. Conner gets to have friends and family and be happy. But Conner also has special gifts and when the time comes, Conner puts on his 'S' shield, and goes to save the world and stop the bad guys. And since he looks different, nobody knows Conner is Superboy, or Superboy is Conner," explained Clark, as Conner nodded.

"So- I'm always Conner," said the little boy, "But only if I'm wearing this shirt can I be Superboy?"

"Exactly," said Clark, deciding he'd made headway.

"And- If I'm Conner- I always have a Clark?" asked the boy shyly.

"Always," said Clark, unable to refuse those wide little pools staring at him with such hope. It was a good thing Luthor didn't know about the power of those eyes. He'd find a way to bottle it and exploit it against innocent citizens.

"Okay, I'll take the shirt off," said the boy, allowing Clark to remove the shirt.

As the boy splashed around in the water, Clark rolled up his sleeves. The thought then struck him that he was probably going to be having these little philosophical chats about identities a lot more often. But that was okay, he decided, as he rubbed some soap on the little boy. The boy had been fascinated by the rubber duck Clark had found at the farm earlier. He was surprisingly easy in the bath-tub, despite the fact that Clark had to remove his glasses since he splashed around a bit. And if the boy noticed Clark using his heat vision to ensure the water stayed warm, he didn't say. But it was all for the kid's comfort.

XXXX

By the end of bath-time, Conner had almost fallen asleep in his spot. Clark had tucked the kid into an old pair of pyjamas, with little white dogs that reminded the man of Krypto, and a large white dog-head on the shirt. The boy had mumbled something about a wolf, before falling asleep in Clark's arms. He'd laid the boy down in his bed, and just watched him sleep for a good few minutes. It was fascinating, to say the least.

His little hair was longer than that favoured military cut, and splayed across his forehead and around his ears. His cheeks were soft, and while the kid had some muscle, it was shadowed in baby fat. He moved quite a bit when he slept, rolling one side, and then the next. The concept of blankets seemed foreign, and instead of letting Clark cover him, the boy held the blanket tightly and tossed around. It was cute. And now he was acting too parental. He was just a baby-sitter. The kid was a weapon. Not a real boy. Just acted a lot like a kid. Gods this was confusing. Finally he snapped out of this moment, and pressed his comm-link.

_"__Superman?" _came J'onn's voice, sounding surprised.

"Hey J'onn, can you put me through to Bruce? A private link?" asked Clark, as he headed to the kitchen to talk. From here he could keep an eye on Conner but not worry about being overheard.

_"Of course," _came the martian's easy reply.

Less than a half-minute later, the grouchy voice of Bruce Wayne rang through to his ear, "_What Clark?_"

"Lois saw Conner today," said Clark, straight to the point, because like Bruce, he doesn't really want to be a part of this conversation. There's a silence that permeates.

_"What does she know?"_ asked Bruce already in Batman mode.

"She thinks he's my illegitimate son with a mother name Carrie. Conner kept calling Blank Canary Ca'ary. I'm not sure if it was a speech impediment or because he was near tears," offered Clark, though the last bit has no real importance to the situation. But he still feels like sharing.

_"I see. Anything else?" _asked Batman.

"Nope, she doesn't know anything else," said Clark with a sigh. "But she wants answers. I tried lying and saying it's a relative's kid."

_"Avoid her,_" said Batman.

"Easier said than done, and Lois will want the details. Every single one," said Clark with a scowl.

_"__I know. Keep her away from Conner. At least until we can figure out a proper cover story. Why did she even stop by?" _He sounds annoyed and accusing, two things Clark hates dealing with when it comes to Batman.

"I called in sick," said Clark.

_"Idiot." _

"Thanks. How's Dick by the way?" asked Clark, wondering if Bruce was struggling. Then again, Bruce had Alfred.

_"Taking a nap," _came the brusque reply.

"So is Conner. Think it has to do with their predicament?" asked Clark.

_"Or the fact that they haven't had a proper night's sleep. We shall see. Goodbye Clark," _is all Bruce has to offer before the link goes dead. That was almost friendly for Bruce. But that did nothing to solve Clark's problem. Shouldn't the millionaire have the reporters chasing him down? And so, the man sat down to think.


	6. Roy's Trial

**Disclaimer: Don't own YJ **

**This chapter is pretty short. I couldn't find a good fit beyond the first bit, so the rest is a bit short. Mostly it's setting the next chapter up, which will feature Batman and Robin. And then it will lead into M'gann and J'onn and the unravelling of part of the deaging mystery. **

* * *

**Roy's Trial**

Why had he agreed to staying? He'd come over with Ollie partly out of curiosity, partly because he was still drugged on painkillers, partly because he wanted to see Dinah, but not a single one of the many reasons he'd thought up to justify returning to Ollie's mansion for this. Shortly after Dinah had returned to the mansion bringing Blondie in tow, she'd carried out her threat to inspect every inch of the house for child safety features. While Roy had been pretty impressed with the effort Ollie put in, Dinah had said it wasn't enough to just buy the crap. And she'd lead her boyfriend away to actually assemble toys, put locks on doors, and all that shit.

Which had left him in this predicament. He was stuck with the brat in the living room. Dinah had already fed Artemis lunch, which saved the kid from chili. Since Dinah had been late coming home, having actually gone to inspect the houses, Roy hadn't really presumed that he'd find himself in this position. With the kid. Who was still decked out in that stupid girly Green Arrow costume, but the hood was pulled up, and holding a white stuffed rabbit toy Dinah had picked up from the kid's mother.

Looking at the antique grandfather clock in the room, Roy groaned to discover it had only been five minutes since Dinah had left him with the kid. The kid who had been entirely too silent during it all. She just sat on the couch, hugging her stupid white bunny. Finally, Roy stood up and grabbed the T.V remote. If the kid was going to be silent, he may as well watch the news.

Two minutes later and he was watching the GBS network's Cat Grant as she discussed the latest peace talks in Rhelasia and the success of Luthor's peace initiatives. He glared at Luthor's image on the screen as the man droned on about how cooperative the Rhelasians were and how he really took no credit in bringing peace. The icing on the bitter cake was when he modestly- as if that was a word for Luthor!- shrugged off that achievement and the nickname of the Peacemaker.

"Really, I'm just an ordinary man who was in the right place at the right time," said Luthor politely to the camera, "I'm no Man of Steel, no superpowers. I just did what I thought was right in that situation. I don't like to think of myself as above the ordinary man just because I did the right thing."

"Why'd he say that?" asked the blonde girl beside him, reminding Roy that she was here.

He turned to stare at the girl beside him, who was frowning as she surveyed the screen, looking confused. Uncertainly, he replied, "Because he wants to make Superman look bad."

The little girl nodded, but continued to glare at the screen with a cute pout. Even if she was annoying as hell when she was older, and a shitty replacement for himself, the kid wasn't too bad as she was now. He turned back to the screen, when the girl inched closer to his chair. He was sitting by himself on the reclining chair that Ollie had bought. There were two, one a bright red, the other an ugly green. Both were situated on opposite ends to the couch, meant for sports games so that the two could relax. They weren't side by side because when they got into their playful arguments, they'd use projectile weaponry, which was all a part of how they fought and yet, got along.

The kid had sat on the couch, as far away from Roy's end as possible without climbing into Ollie's chair. Which actually said Ollie's chair in untidy scrawl across a green pillow. He'd custom ordered two pillows, one red and one green, with Roy and his own signature. Roy shook off the memories. Just because Ollie had always made things equal between them didn't mean the man had taken him seriously. As a partner. He wouldn't have treated him like a kid. Sullenly, he focused on the news.

The reporter switched over to Vicki Vale with the coverage of Gotham's latest spectacle of a menace, the Riddler in all his fine glory as he went on a spree, breaking into and stealing from several jewellery shops. Roy didn't much care about the mission until an image of Robin appeared on the screen as he swung down and knocked three of the middlemen down.

"That's Robin!" came the girl's voice again, and Roy simply grunted an affirmative, "I didn't know Robin fought the Riddler last week. Why didn't he mention it? I could have helped!"

"How would you have helped kid?" asked Roy, curious now on the girl's backstory.

"Duh, I live in Gotham! I could have used my arrows! That store isn't near my home, but Ollie wouldn't mind. He told me I can't y'know, patrol in Gotham, but it gets really boring when I'm at home with mommy," explained the little girl, as she scooted closer. However, when Roy turned to really look at her, she stopped and shuffled backwards a little. Apparently he still was scary.

"Well, then that's why they didn't tell you kid," he said with a shrug, facing the T.V and trying to be as non-threatening as possible, "You're an Arrow, and Arrows belong to Star."

The little girl nodded from the corner of his eye, and she seemed happy at that. Happy enough to take the hood down and reveal blonde little pig-tails. She was still hugging the rabbit, which looked as though it was used to being mauled by kids. Or at least, this kid in particular.

"But I don't live in Star, so I don't really belong," she said quietly, looking miserable.

Fuck.

"Well, you work in Star with Ollie don't you?" asked Roy easily, trying to keep the girl from crying.

"Yeah," she said, perking up a bit.

"So Arrow that belongs to Star," said Roy with a nod.

"Okay," she said brightly, and Roy gave a small, relieved sigh.

The news continued on to the sports scores, and Roy took note of them with little interest. Ever since going solo, he hadn't had much time to keep up with sports. He'd never been a big fan of anything before moving in with Ollie, but after awhile he got into football and boxing, both on the insistence of Dinah pushing him and Ollie to bond. The sports news was boring, but he did notice Artemis moving closer to him. He didn't mention anything.

When the news switched to the entertainment section, Roy had to smirk. It was a feature on Ollie's last party. He hadn't shown up to the party. It was a major scandal, but nothing worse then Ollie had done before. But Roy couldn't help smirking at it. It was pretty funny to watch the stuffy reporters acting all bothered by Ollie not showing up, when Ollie was probably saving their sorry asses while on a League mission or off fighting Shado or Merlyn.

"Ollie didn't go to his party?" asked a sudden voice, and Roy jumped to find that Artemis was now sitting right beside him, unconcerned as she looked at him curiously.

"Er- No he didn't," said Roy, relaxing as he continued, "He was off probably doing a mission."

"Oh," said Artemis, appeased, "I thought he was being irresponsible. Dinah says he's not very responsible all the time."

"He isn't," agreed Roy, "But he likes a party, so he tends to go to those."

"Why?" asked Artemis curiously.

"Well, probably because he likes the unlimited booze and food and women," said Roy with a shrug.

"But he has Dinah, why does he need unlimited women?" came the next question.

"Roy's being silly," said a voice from behind them, before Roy could give an answer.

Roy turned to face the blonde woman, who had an eyebrow raised in a 'what-the-hell-do-you-think-you're-doing?' manner that Roy and Ollie had gotten used to as a sign of anger. He gulped, but Artemis beamed back to Dinah. Trust her to warm up to the blonde. Dinah smiled sweetly at Artemis, before fixing a glare at Roy.

"Dinah! Where's Ollie?" asked Artemis, and Roy twitched a little. The kid couldn't talk without asking a question.

"He's setting up your room," said Dinah as she came and leaned over the couch, making sure to go between Artemis and Roy as she crossed her arms and peered at the television screen, "What are you guys watching?"

"News," grunted Roy, pointing on-screen.

"I remember that party," said Dinah with a nod, "Ollie missed it because of the ice towers attack."

"Did I help in the ice tower attack?" asked Artemis, looking thoughtful.

"Yes you did sweetie," said Dinah, smiling as she pet Artemis's head. "But why are you guys watching the news? Why don't you put on a movie instead?"

"Sure," said Roy, recognizing the question to be a command, "What do you want to watch kid?"

"Alice in Wonderland!" said Artemis, before pausing and frowning, "I don't want to see that anymore. What else is there?"

Roy stared at the girl's pouty face, and tried to figure out why Alice in Wonderland got such a mixed reaction, before he shrugged and said, "We've got Robin Hood, every damn version there is. Peter Pan, the live-action and cartoon version, are there any other versions? And-

"What's Peter Pan?" asked Artemis curiously.

"Peter Pan sounds like a great movie," said Dinah with a nod, "You two can watch that together."

"Cartoon or live-action?" asked Roy, and Artemis replied easily, "Cartoon!"

The movie went into the DVD player, and Roy began fiddling with the settings on the remote control. As soon as the blue Disney castle scene popped up, Dinah made the suggestion for popcorn, and asked Roy to come help. Artemis was enthralled with the advertisements.

In the kitchen, Roy waited for Dinah's other shoe to drop. She was easily moving around in a white blouse and jeans, looking the part of the rich man's girlfriend. Her blonde hair was tossed into a messy bun, and overall, from her slouch and movements, she looked like a pretty girl who wasn't much to fear. Except for the fact that it would take a second for her to suddenly change her posture into a dangerous. And Roy had a feeling he was going to get it.

"She was fifteen a few hours ago," said Dinah, her tone even as she walked around and put a blue bag of popcorn into the microwave, "And at that time, she may have joined you in complaining about Ollie. But right now, she's a confused child, and for all instances should be treated like a five year old. And Ollie is trying, you know? So at the least, don't mess that up for him."

Roy clenched his hand into a fist. He couldn't explain why he was so angry thinking of Ollie trying to make a relationship with another kid, but he was pissed. It bugged him more than he was ready to admit. Dinah must have seen something in his face, because she sighed.

"Roy, he's trying for both of you," she said again, and Roy unclenched automatically, but he was still frowning.

"I get it Dinah," said Roy with a shrug, "I won't mess things up for Ollie. He'll probably do that himself."

"Roy!" said Dinah, glaring at him. "He's not- Ollie really sucks at doing the responsible thing, and he's messed up so many times before that well, I get where you're coming from. But you came here, with him, of your own volition. So just, try, okay?"

Roy stared at her face, both sincere, with a slight menacing glare. He was pretty sure that it was Dinah's way of saying he had no choice but to try, so Roy nodded and let her hand him the popcorn. She pressed a kiss to his temple, and she was out the door without a word. Probably as to not mess up the mojo they had going on of peaceful acceptance and what not.

As Roy settled back into the living room, he handed the bowl of popcorn to Artemis. The movie started with the Darlings leaving the house, but Roy was a million miles away. He was thinking idly of why he had come here. Ollie had reached out, had tried to reach out, multiple times. But the idiot wasn't really apologizing. He was just, trying to talk to Roy. Telling him to cool down. Which only angered him further. Roy wasn't a kid. He deserved to be treated like an adult.

At the same time, Roy really did respect Ollie (sometimes) and while he'd never admit it, he missed the idiot. Living alone was awesome, with the freedom (not that Ollie really paid attention earlier to when Roy was in or out of the house, that was Dinah), the quiet (Ollie was really damn loud and he always had to come bug Roy about something or the other when he got bored), and the general space he had. But it was lonely. Roy wasn't one to claim he needed people, but somehow, after cutting himself from Ollie, he'd ended up cutting himself from everyone.

He wasn't in touch with many members of the League. Hal still talked to him, and occasionally the Green Lantern invited him to Coast for a mission. But Hal was still Ollie's friend, and Roy had limited his interaction with the man mostly because he didn't want Hal telling Ollie anything. His own friends still had mentors, and that bugged Roy earlier on, but now what bugged him was the fact that he had grown up beyond them. Don't get him wrong, Roy still loved Kid Flash and Robin dearly, and he enjoyed hanging out with them. They were good kids. But they were still kids. And they weren't going to really understand him for another few years. They thought he was crazy for wanting independence.

But Kaldur only understood so much. He respected the guy immensely for the fact that Kaldur got it. He didn't push Roy into coming back or becoming another Justice Friend. He understood why the bid for independence was so important. But Kaldur's situation was too different from Roy's for the guy to really get Roy's situation. Arthur was a King. He didn't smother Kaldur, he merely instructed him. He didn't smother Kal with protection and baby him. He just, gave orders that were to be followed. And when Kaldur was ready to be independent, the relationship would change only slightly. There would be no moving out of the palace, no arguments. It would be a reassignment. That's about all.

And while Kaldur and Roy respected each other, and Kaldur understood Roy's situation, Kaldur was way too busy to call up and ask him to hang out or patrol together. While it was immensely funny to try and introduce Kaldur to different liquors, or to have him watch his back, Kaldur's duties were split between Atlantis and Young Justice. He'd been given a leadership role. Kaldur was gaining his independence slowly but surely. Not abruptly and suddenly like Roy.

At this stage, Roy had no idea what he wanted. He wanted to be Ollie's equal. he wanted respect, and he wanted to be treated like an eighteen-year old man who had been fighting scum for the last four years of his life. He had grown up as a vigilante. Nothing was going to change that now. Roy wasn't going to move back in with Ollie, he wasn't going to be the good son, but he wanted that reassurance of Ollie having his back once in a while on patrol. He wanted to have someplace to go to when he was alone and needed someone to talk to. He wanted to be independent and dependent, and that angered him further.

It was so damn hard to figure out what he wanted when he had no clue where to get that balance. All he really knew was that while he was going through growing pains, Ollie had called and called and then stopped. The next thing he knew, the Team had a new replacement calling herself Ollie's niece, which was bullshit, and Ollie's new sidekick, which was apparently true.

That made him glance at Artemis. He really hated her for replacing him. He hated Ollie for making him replaceable. The only good thing was that she wasn't calling herself Speedy. He might never have let Ollie reach out to him. At the same time, she was like, five now. She was just a little wide-eyed kid who hadn't done anything wrong. And apparently Ollie and Dinah wanted him to get along with the brat. And apparently he was going along with it. For now.

With a sigh, Roy tried to focus on the movie as the kids flew off to the star. And then he groaned. Of all the movies to watch, why Peter Pan? Grumbling on the inside, he shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth and glared at the screen. Two hours of Lost boys, and the lovey-dovey tale of growing up. And the main character had a stupid hat. Fucking irony.

* * *

The movie ended, and Artemis was amazed. As a kid, she'd only watched a few movies with Jade. They had gotten a brand new DVD of Alice in Wonderland when she was really little, with a poster one day with some money Jade had saved up when their mom was still around and not in jail. It had played every day without fail when their parents were on a heist. Jade had even bought her Peter the White Rabbit, because the movie was such a good one.

She hadn't seen many other movies. She remembered a few old James Bond and samurai movies her dad and mom liked, a few Vietnamese films, but nothing really stood out. Peter Pan was amazing! Artemis had already decided she liked Tinkerbell, because the fairy didn't give up and even though she didn't talk, she made lots of trouble. Jade would like Tinker Bell.

Artemis turned to Roy, only to find he had fallen asleep. She stared at the older boy. Artemis really didn't remember a Roy. Her memories were all jumbled up. She couldn't even remember her mom getting released from jail, but she was. It hurt to think too much, so Artemis didn't try and dwell on the matter.

But Roy had red hair. It was dark, not bright like Wally's. He was really tall, like taller than Dinah and Jade. Or at least, Jade in her memories. Artemis wasn't sure where Jade was. Her mother who wasn't in jail no more said Jade had gone with daddy. She didn't know where daddy was either. But Artemis worried that Jade and daddy were out there without her and mom.

"Psst, Roy?" asked Artemis, prodding the older man slightly.

He snorted, and pet her head in his sleep, before leaning onto the arm of his chair. Artemis frowned, but let it go. Instead, she yawned a little, and took the pillow from Roy's chair and set it below her head. A nap didn't sound too bad right now. Her head was starting to hurt anyways. Artemis laid down on the couch, once again marveling at the sheer size of it.

Ollie had really big comfy couches. It was brown leather. Leather was super expensive, or so Jade and mummy said. Daddy said they'd afford it after a mission, but it was more important to keep the armory stocked. Yawning a little, Artemis cuddled Peter the White Rabbit to her chest, and let her eyes droop shut.

* * *

"Alright, we set up all the toys, the rooms have locks, the kitchen is kid-proof, and I moved the arrows and bows three shelves up, are we done now?" whined Oliver Queen to his girlfriend.

He was exhausted! Every time he was sure he was done, Dinah would come up with some new insane chore that apparently made the house kid-safe. And she thought if he did it, it was helping the whole responsibility thing. Ollie was pretty sure she was still pissed off about the way he'd handled the situation with Roy. Which, admittedly, wasn't his best move to date.

"I guess we are," said Dinah, sounding amazed, "I can't believe it only took five hours."

"Finally," said Ollie, sounding relieved as he grinned to Dinah, "Let's grab a bite to eat, pretty bird."

Dinah smiled, and sighed as she followed Ollie out of the house and into the kitchen. Within a few minutes, Ollie was gorging himself on a sandwich filled with sliced meats and hot sauce. Dinah opted for a bit of fruit as she eyed Ollie closely.

"I wonder if Roy and Artemis are still watching movies," murmured Dinah, glancing in the direction of the home theatre.

Ollie swallowed, and cocked an eyebrow, "Want me to check on them?"

"We can both check on them," offered Dinah.

Ollie finished the rest of the sandwich and the two headed over to the home theatre. They were met with the sight of Roy sleeping on the recliner chair, and Artemis cuddled into the couch. It was incredibly sweet, like toothache sweet. Ollie could practically feel Dinah's happiness and the cuddly mama bird vibes she was giving off.

"Should we wake them?" asked Ollie quietly.

"Let them sleep," suggested Dinah, "They're probably exhausted. I wonder how many hours of sleep Roy's getting on his own."

Ollie winced, and glanced over at Roy again. He saw the dark shadows under the kid's eyes, they were practically unmissable. As Dinah moved to grab blankets, Ollie scrutinized Roy and Artemis. It felt oddly strange to have both kids in his house. Artemis was a good girl, and Ollie liked her. Maybe even enough to actually treat her like a niece. But Roy, Roy was like his own flesh and blood. Even if he was a screw-up where parental stuff was concerned. And he'd missed the kid's presence. Maybe Artemis being deaged was an opportunity. And he'd damn well fix that relationship, one way or another. It was either that, or deal with Dinah's anger at screwing up, again. And Ollie wasn't going to ruin things this time.

* * *

When Roy woke up, he was surprised to find himself wrapped up in a warm blue blanket back in Ollie's house. He was even more surprised to see the little blond kid, sitting on her haunches and watching him curiously. Roy stared back at her, a little bit of a glare pouring into his eyes. But the kid wasn't fazed. Instead, she brightly decided to say, "Ollie gave me your old hat."

"What?" asked Roy, incredibly confused as he tried to gather his bearings.

"Dinah said dinner would be in an hour, and I was bored. I woke up an hour ago," explained the kid, except not really. Artemis. Right. That brought back some memories. But that still didn't explain the comment about the hat.

"Okay," said Roy, as he remembered why he was here, "So, why my hat?"

"I want to play Peter Pan," she said flippantly, as though that was the obvious reason for wanting his hat. "But I want to be Tinker Bell. Ollie was called in for a super-important League meeting. Dinah had to go too. So Ollie left the hat and said you'd play with me. So I came to wake you up, but you were sleeping."

"A League meeting? About what?" asked Roy sharply, a little angry that Ollie had just pawned off his responsibility of Artemis onto him. But Dinah had gone too, so it must have been important. He was still going to yell at the older man when he got back.

"Don't know," said Artemis, pouting a bit, "Ollie said it had to with me but then Dinah told him to shut up and hurry."

"Okay," said Roy, nodding. He glanced at the clock. It was only seven-ish. He had slept a good three hours, and he wasn't going to patrol until midnight. And now he was stuck with a kid until Ollie got back from the Watch Tower.

"Can we play now?" asked Artemis, tugging on his sleeve.

"Er, I guess," said Roy, sighing as he got up and stretched.

Artemis beamed. Her face practically lit up like the Fourth of July, and Roy felt warm and fuzzy and at the same time, disgust. But that last bit was mostly because Artemis was holding out his obnoxious yellow Speedy hat. He stared at it, and then at Artemis. Did she want to play Green Arrow? Because he sure as hell wasn't going to play as Speedy and let her be Green Arrow.

"What?" asked Roy, pointing to the hat.

"You're Peter Pan!" said Artemis, well, more like ordered. God she was bossy. "I'm going to be Tinker Bell, cause I'm already wearing green and I'm blonde, see? Ollie gave me some magic fairy dust too."

She pulled out a bag filled with foundation. Or more specifically, the foundation they used to hide bruises. Artemis had scrunched it all up and made it into 'fairy dust', and apparently Ollie had given her the idea. Roy really pitied the cleaning lady who had to get it in the morning. But he shoved the pity aside, and instead channeled it internally. He was the one who had to be Peter Pan.

"Okay," said Roy, because what else could he really say to that.

"And we're going to go to Neverland and fly and fight Captain Hook. But I don't really have a Captain Hook," said Artemis, sounding a bit put out, "But that's okay, because we can fly and pretend to go find Captain Hook to beat him up."

Roy struggled to remember if that was how the story went, but Artemis seemed content with the idea of beating up Captain Hook, and Roy really didn't care. Instead, he sleepily followed Artemis to the training room. Two training dummies were set up, and Artemis was babbling on as Tinker Bell. Roy blinked twice, trying to figure out what she was saying. All he got were various weird tinkly sounds, and then foundation powder on his shirt. Oh yeah, he was going to kill Ollie. Artemis stared at him expectantly, and Roy sighed.

He may not like Artemis, and he sure as hell wasn't great with kids, but he was trying. Damn Dinah and her ability to make him do stupid things. He put the hat on, and lazily said, "Let's get Captain Hook. Oh look, there he is, come on."

Artemis beamed again. He followed the kid slowly as she began to punch a training dummy. Roy actually grinned this time around. He could definitely play this game. He began kicking his own punching bag, as Artemis babbled, doing high kicks and punches. Aside from the stupid hat, and the occasional fly away comments ("Hook's behind you, duck!", "Great job Tinker Bell," and his personal favorite, "Die you stupid pirates,") he was pretty much just training as he kicked high and low, and brought a few punches. He was so acing this babysitter thing.


End file.
